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INSECT WONDERLAND 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



Science through Stories 
Lyrics 




" I'm not an insect ! " 



INSECT 
WONDERLAND 



BY 

CONSTANCE M. FOOT 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY V. Q. ALLAN- 



NEW YORK 

JOHN LANE COMPANY 
MCMX 






/(?U 



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PREFACE 



THE kind reception accorded to my little book 
Science through Stories encouraged me to feel 
that there might be an opening for another book 
upon similar lines. I have, therefore, chosen for the 
subject of this volume some simple facts concerning 
the Insect World, and have selected one or more 
specimens from each of the seven great natural 
orders of insects according to the Linnean system 
of division. 

I have endeavoured to treat the subject with the 
same simplicity as in my previous book, and trust 
that it may prove equally acceptable as an educa- 
tional reader for the Kindergarten, or as a book to 
be read by mothers merely for the amusement of 

their little folks. 

C. M. F. 

November, 1909 



CONTENTS 



Spider Web Corner 














3 


Butterfly Green . 














23 


Fly Walk 














• 41 


Rose-Beetle Bower 














59 


Wasp Castle . 














79 


Dragon-Fly Pool . 














99 


Ant Hill Mount . 














117 


Grasshopper Lane 














139 


Beehive Palace 














157 


Moth Land 














179 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

" I J ?n not an insect ! " ...... Frontispiece 

PAGE 

" Eight legs ! How wonderful ! And I've only two ! " . . 5 

" And when I had fixed it there I was able to begin my web " 10 

"At night they come out and spin a little web in the grass " 15 

The heartsease noticed that all the bright colours were hidden 25 

The lily-bells rang loudly ....... 28 

Chrysalises and Caterpillars ....... 33 

" Oh ! what are you making all that buzzing about? " cried 

the parrot ......... 42 

" Oh ! take care you don't fall," cried Goldie ... 50 

Tailpiece .......... 56 

" She does not understand that it spoils my dress" . . 62 

" My flying wings come out from underneath, like this " 68 

The little Sextons 72 

" Come again soon, little Ladybird" ..... 75 

" Come, come ! leave some fruit for the rest of us ! " . . 80 

The Ground-Wasp's nest ....... 87 

The Wood-Wasp's nest ........ 92 

Tailpiece .......... 96 

" I cannot think what it can be " . . . . . .100 

"And see! something is coming out !" . .... 101 

' I — am — a— Dragon-Fly ! " 103 

" Now I am really off " . . . . . . .112 

Tailpiece . . . . . . . . . .113 

x 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi 

" What can be the matter at Ant Hill Mount ? '' . . 117 

11 Then she takes off her wings " . . . . .126 

The Parasol-Ants 135 

" Now listen ! " said the grasshopper ..... 142 

"If a lot of my locust cousins were to come here to-night 
. . . they would eat and eat until not a blade of grass 
was left" 150 

" My coat being the colour of grass, enemies cannot see me " 152 

The grasshopper . . . flew away home . . . .154 

" Our home is an old-fashioned one " ..... 160 

" Hast thou a drop of honey sweet in thy cup— to spare for 

me?" .......... 162 

" If she finds a nest left by a small bird, she uses that, 1 ' said 

Bumble . . . . . . ... . . 171 

Honey . . . . . . . . . .176 

"Mr. Toad and his family are sitting waiting for— for — " . 182 

Nearer came the sound . . . . . . . .183 

"He was always a fine fellow even when a caterpillar, for 

then he wore a nice fur coat" ...... 190 

Mulberry Silkworms and Cocoon . . . . . .196 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



SUMMARY 

A rose-bush and an early thrush talk together about 
the beauty of the spider's web near by. In the course 
of the conversation, the thrush refers to the spider as 
an "insect." The latter overhears the remark and 
becomes very indignant, saying, to their surprise, that 
he is not an insect. They ask him to explain in what 
way he differs from one. The thrush flies away, and 
the discussion is taken up by a neighbouring lavender- 
bush and a tall Japanese anemone, to whom the spider 
tells a great deal about himself and his many relations, 
particularly the Trap-door spiders. 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



IT was peep of day, and the birds were chattering 
to each other about all they had to do. 

Mr. Sparrow and his family were always up first; 
Mrs. Thrush, too, was an early riser, for she had a 
large family to see after and there was their break- 
fast to get. This morning she had been lucky 
and found just what she wanted, so she thought 
that she would fly back home by her favourite rose- 
bush. 

Miss Rosie was up, looking very pretty and sweet 
in her dainty pink frock. 

"How are you, Mrs. Thrush?" she called out, as 
she saw her friend come flying along. 

11 Very well, thank you," replied the thrush. "What 
a lovely morning it is ! " 

" Lovely ! " said the rose-bush. "I have been watch- 
ing Mr. Spider finish his web. See, there it is on the 
next bush to me — Miss Lavender, you know. Is it 
not a pretty pattern ? All shining, too, in the sun 
with drops of dew." 

3 



4 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Very pretty," answered the thrush, but not very 
heartily, for she did not much care about spiders, 
except to eat ; and she thought that she had heard 
there were some kinds which eat little dead birds, so 
she said : 

" But I must own that I think it very mean of 
Mr. Spider to catch the poor flies and bees and ants 
and wasps in that way." 

" But he must get something to eat," said the rose- 
bush, " and for the little ones too. It is no worse than 
your getting worms for your family, if you will excuse 
my saying so, Mrs. Thrush." 

" No more it is," she replied. "When you come to 
think of it, we must all have food." 

" I think that Mr. Spider and his whole family are 
wonderfully clever," continued the rose-bush, "just as 
ants are — I often watch them at work." 

" Yes," said the thrush, " I suppose all those in- 
sects " 

"Insects!" called out the spider, who had really 
been listening to the conversation whilst finishing off 
his web, though he had not appeared to be doing so. 
"Insect indeed!" he continued in an angry tone of 
voice. "/';// not an insect ! " 

Mrs. Thrush fluttered about feeling too nervous to 
answer the spider, for he seemed very cross and spoke 
so sharply. He looked so fierce, too, that she thought 
again of what she had heard about the little dead 
birds. 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



5 



But Miss Rosie, who was always a peacemaker, 
cried out : 

" Mrs. Thrush meant no harm, I am sure, Mr. 
Spider. She is such a good mother and she sings 
so nicely too ; and, do you know, I — I — hardly like 
to say it, as you seem so offended, but I quite 
thought that you were an — an — insect ! " 




" Eight legs ! How wonderful ! And I've only two ! " 

" Nothing of the kind," said the spider, who had 
not quite recovered his temper ; a I should really 
have thought you would have known better, Miss 
Rosie." 

" I should like to understand about it," she replied, 
" and hear what you really are, so as not to make a 
mistake another time, as it is very unkind to hurt 
people's feelings." 



6 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Well," said the spider, " to begin with, I have 
eight legs." 

" Dear me ! " exclaimed Mrs. Thrush, hopping on 
to a twig a little nearer to the spider. " Eight legs ! 
How wonderful ! And I've only two ! " 

The spider took no notice of the thrush's remark, 
but continued : 

"An insect has only six legs ; that's two less than 
I have, you see." 

" Is Mr. Bee an insect?" asked the rose-bush 
timidly. " I think he has six legs." 

" Yes, yes," said the spider, " that's right, Miss 
Rosie. He is an insect, sure enough ; so are Mrs. 
Wasp and Master Fly and Mrs. Ant. I can't think 
of any others at this minute." 

" Is having two legs more the only thing that 
makes you different from an insect ? " suddenly asked 
the thrush. 

" Oh dear, no ! " replied the spider. " I'm different 
in a lot of other ways — for one thing I'm not divided 
into three " 

"Not divided into three!" repeated Miss Rosie 
and Mrs. Thrush together, looking quite shocked. 

The spider shook with laughter, and said : 

" Yes, I mean it ; the insects are divided into three 
parts and I am not. What do you think of that ?" 

" It is very strange," said Miss Rosie, "for Mr. Bee 
looks all in one to me." 

" Well, he isn't," said the spider ; " he may look 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



all in one, but he is really divided into three parts — 
his head, his front body, and his hind body." 

11 But excuse me," said the rose-bush, " I can't see 
so much difference between you and Mr. Bee and 
Mrs. Wasp, for you've got a head too ! " 

" Yes, of course I've got a head," replied the spider, 
" but it is not divided from my body in the same way 
that Mr. Bee's is." 

" Oh, I see now," said Miss Rosie ; " you can't 
move your head about as he does." 

Instead of replying to this the spider whispered : 

" Excuse me a moment ; I think I see a fly ! " 

He hurried away and disappeared under a leaf of 
the rose-bush. 

"It is very strange," she murmured, " how Mr. 
Spider saw that fly, for he never turned his head ; he 
was looking at us all the time. I must ask him about 
it when he comes back." 

" It certainly was strange," agreed Mrs. Thrush, 
and then she added, " I think I'll be going, for I see 
that Mr. Spider does not much care about my being 
here — perhaps he is afraid I may be wanting to catch 
him for breakfast ! " 

Then with a good-bye chirp to her friend off she 
flew. 

The rose-bush was still thinking over all the spider 
had said when she heard a little voice saying : 

" He certainly didn't look round and yet he saw 
Master Fly. I can't understand it, can you?" 



8 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" No, Lavvie dear," replied the soft voice of Miss 
Anemone from Japan ; " but Rosie is going to ask 
him when he comes back." 

" Ah ! " exclaimed the rose-bush, " did you and 
Lavvie hear all the interesting things Mr. Spider has 
been telling us ? " 

"Yes," replied the lavender-bush; "I hope it did 
not matter — our listening." 

" Not a bit," answered the rose-bush ; " it was no 
secret ; but weren't you surprised ? " 

" Indeed we were," cried the anemone, " for, to tell 
the truth," and she whispered as the wind gently 
swayed her tall head closer to the rose-bush, " we 
always thought Mr. Spider was an insect." 

" So did I," answered Miss Rosie ; " but he is quite 
different Ah ! here he comes ! " 

The spider ran back into the centre of the web and 
swung himself gently to and fro for a moment. Then 
he said : 

" False alarm, Miss Rosie. No fly there ; he evi- 
dently only peeped in." 

" A good thing for poor Master Fly," she laughed. 
" By the by," she continued, " how came you to see 
him, although you never looked round ? " 

" Ah ! " said the spider, " you must remember that 
my eyes are set so that I can see all ways at once." 

" Oh ! then, you don't have to turn them round to 
see," chimed in Miss Lavender. 

" No," replied the spider; " in fact, they cannot 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



move. In our family we usually have six pairs of 
eyes." 

" No wonder he can always see Master Fly and 
Mr. Bee so quickly," whispered the anemone to the 
lavender-bush. Then she said aloud : 

" There is one thing in which I can see that you 
are different from an insect — you have no wings, 
Mr. Spider." 

" No," he said, " I have no wings, but I have eight 
legs, don't forget that!" It made him feel rather 
cross again when an insect was mentioned. Then he 
continued, " And I have two legs in front ; see here ! " 
and he waved them. " These I use to feel with, and 
to take my food with ; and I have jaws, too, with 
poison in them, that I can bite with if anyone hurts 
me." 

The two bushes and the anemone glanced at each 
other as they saw the spider was looking very cross 
and fierce ; so Miss Rosie quickly turned the con- 
versation by saying : 

" We all admire your beautiful web, and wish we 
could spin as you do and be as wise and clever." 

These kind words seemed to make the spider forget 
his ill-humour, and he said : 

" I am glad you like my web, Miss Rosie. The 
silk I use is very fine but very strong." 

" Where do you keep it ? " asked the anemone. 

"I have some little pockets in the back of my body," 
he answered, " with tiny holes in them ; these are my 



10 



INSECT WONDERLAND 







iiM^s 



' And when I had fixed it there 
I was able to beg-in my w r eb." 



spinnerets, and the silk 
comes out through the 
little holes." 

" I often wonder how 
your net holds together," 
said Miss Lavender. 

" I have two kinds of 
silk," replied the spider ; 
" one is smooth, and the 
other has a tiny drop of 
glue which makes the 
lines stick together." 

" That is wonderful," 
said the lavender-bush. 

" The other day I was 
watching you make a 
web," said Miss Rosie, 
" and I saw you spin a 
long, long thread and 
leave it hanging down. 
What did you do that 
for, Mr. Spider ? " 

" I was waiting for the 
wind to catch it and 
carry it across to the 
wall near where Miss 
Clematis is, and when I 
had fixed it there I was 
able to begin my web." 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



1 1 



11 1 cannot think how you keep it so even,'' said the 
anemone. 

" Oh, I guide the silk with the claws on my feet," 
he replied. 

" And you are so patient too," said Miss Rosie ; 
" if anyone breaks your web, you begin it all over 
again and never seem to mind." 

" I am used to getting my web broken," replied 
the spider, " and sometimes I have to remake it two 
or three times ; but a spider must be persevering, or 
he would be of no use at all. That reminds me of 
some little verses our mothers always teach us as soon 
as we are old enough to learn them. I will say them 
if you like." 

" Oh, do, please," they exclaimed. 

"They are called ' Persevere'," he said. 

" Little Spider, now begin 
Net of gossamer to spread ; 
You must learn to weave and spin 
Patiently each silken thread. 

Little Spider, spin, spin, spin. 
'Tis the only way to win. 

" Should a foeman, drawing near, 
Break your pretty web in twain, 
Then, oh, little Spider dear, 
You must just begin again ! 

Little Spider, spin, spin, spin. 

'Tis the only way to win. 

" Do not cry ' Alack-a-day ! ' 
Learn instead to persevere, 



12 INSECT WONDERLAND 

For it is the only way 

To succeed in life, my dear. 

Little Spider, spin, spin, spin. 

'Tis the only way to win." 

" That is pretty ! " they all cried together. " Thank 
you, thank you, Mr. Spider." 

" Still, I think it is very tiresome for you," said 
Miss Rosie, " to have your web broken, for, I expect, 
it startles you." 

" Well, it does make me jump sometimes," he 
replied, " but 1 quickly wind up the end of my silk 
and run away and hide. When my enemy has 
gone I come out again and find a new place. For, 
as I said before, I am quite used to this ; so in fact 
are all my relations." 

"Have you many relations?" asked Miss Laven- 
der. 

" Oh, yes, numbers," answered the spider. " My 
mother used to tell me about them." 

" Oh, do tell us ! " they all cried. 

" Wait one moment," he said. " I feel the web 
shaking ; I believe there must be an insect. I will 
just run and see." 

He soon returned, in a very good humour ; for it 
was poor little Master Fly, who had peeped in a tiny 
bit too far and could not get out again in time. 

" Well," he said, running back to the centre of his 
web, " you were asking about my relations. There are 
so many that I hardly know where to begin, but 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 13 

I think you would like to know about the part of the 
family called ' Trap-door.' " 

" What a funny name," said Miss Rosie. 

" They're very clever, though, I can tell you," said 
the spider. " You will hear presently why they have 
got that name. They live deep down in the earth 
and that is where my cousin, Mrs. Trap-door, makes 
her nest." 

" Do tell us just how she does it," asked Miss 
Lavender in excitement. 

" First of all she bores a hole in the side of a bank, 
next she scoops out the earth and makes it quite 
round like a tunnel, then she lines it with silk." 

" Lines it with silk ! " exclaimed the anemone ; 

II how pretty it must be." 

" Yes, it is very pretty," replied the spider, " but 
the wonderful part is that she makes a trap-door." 

"And what does she make it of?" enquired Miss 
Rosie. 

" Of earth," he replied. " She spins a round web, 
very thick, and then she fills this with earth, and 
makes a strong hinge of web, so that the door opens 
and shuts with a snap. What do you think of that ? " 

" Wonderful indeed ! " they all cried. " Tell us 
some more, Mr. Spider, please do ; it is like a fairy 
tale." 

" Well, it isn't a fairy tale," he said, " it is real 
truth; I told you that the Trap-door family was 
very clever." 



14 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" They certainly are," answered the rose-bush ; 
" and when the door is finished, what then ? " 

" Why, then Cousin Trap-door glues some moss 
and ferns on the outside of her door." 

"And why does she do that?" enquired the anemone. 

The spider laughed. 

" So that her enemies cannot see her door ! " he 
said. 

The others laughed, too, at this, and Miss Lavender 
asked : 

" Couldn't you make a tunnel and a trap-door, 
Mr. Spider?" 

" No," he replied ; " I do not belong to that clever 
branch of the family." 

" What part do you belong to, then ? " enquired the 
anemone. 

" Oh, I am a ' Garden-Spider,' " he answered, "and 
although we cannot make tunnels or trap-doors, our 
webs are generally thought to be the most beautiful 
of all the web-spinning Arachnida." 

" Arachnida ! what are Arachnida ? " they all asked 
together. 

" Merely our family name," he replied. 

" What a grand name you have," said the anemone. 

" No grander than yours, Miss Japonica," said the 
spider, bowing. 

" Does Mrs. Garden-Spider make her nest in a 
tunnel like your cousins, the Trap-doors?" suddenly 
asked the rose-bush. 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



15 



11 Oh dear, no," he 
replied. "I will tell 
you presently about 
our nest and little 
ones, but I was just 
going to tell you first 
how the Trap -door 
cousins feed their 
children." 

"Ah!" said the la- 
vender-bush, "I was 
thinking I must ask 
you how they got food 
into their tunnels." 

" They stay in their 
home all day," ex- 
plained the spider, 
"and at night they 
come out and spin a 
little web in the grass 
to catch food in, and 
as well as that, they 
hunt for food and 
pounce upon beetles, 
dragging them, when 
they are caught, into 
their tunnel. So you 
see they have plenty 
to do." 




*' At night they come out and spin 
a little web in the grass." 



16 INSECT WONDERLAND 

' Thank you," said the anemone. " Now do tell us 
about Mrs. Garden-Spider's nest." 

" Well, to begin with, she makes it of lovely fine 
silk, very soft. Then she weaves a cocoon " 

" Stop, please, Mr. Spider. What is a cocoon ? " 

The spider thought a moment, then he replied : 

"Do you know what a ball is like? Its shape, 
I mean ? " 

" Oh, yes," they exclaimed ; " it is round." 

" A cocoon is something like that," he went on : 
" Mother Spider makes it of silk and lays her eggs in 
it, then one fine day out come the baby spiders." 

" And what does their mother give them to eat ? " 
asked Miss Rosie. 

" Oh, insects," he said. " She has a line near her 
nest and she sits at the door and holds this in her 
claw." 

" What does she do that for ? " asked the anem- 
one. 

" Ah ! " said the spider, "that's the secret. If I let 
you into it, you must not tell the insects, mind." 

" We never repeat what we are told," said Miss 
Rosie a little haughtily. 

" I am sure you don't," cried the spider ; " I only 
said it in fun. Let me see, I was telling you that 
Mother Spider holds the line in her claw, and when 
she feels it move she knows that there is something 
in the web, so down she runs, and if there is a bee or 
fly, she takes it for her babies." 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



17 



" But how can she get it there ? " enquired the 
lavender-bush. 

" She kills it first, then she makes it into a tidy 
little bundle, winds some of her silk round it, and 
carries it off to her nest." 

" And the babies — what are they like ? " asked 
Miss Rosie. " I suppose they are little grubs or 
something before they are spiders ? " 

" Not at all," he replied ; " that is where they are 
different again from insects, for they come out of the 
egg perfect little baby spiders." 

" Then do they always remain babies ? " asked the 
anemone. 

" No, certainly not," he answered ; " they grow very 
fast, and when they are old enough, they go off out 
of the nest and spin webs for themselves and catch 
their own food. They often change their skins when 
they are little, so that of course they have not such 
beautiful coats as grown-up spiders have." 

"You wear velvet coats, do you not?" asked Miss 
Rosie. 

4< Yes, and some of us have stripes and others spots. 
Then, too, our coats are of different colours : some of 
us wear black, others brown, and others again red or 
gold." 

" Very handsome coats," murmured the lavender- 
bush. 

" Yes, our nice coat is our only beauty," he said 
sadly. 



18 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" I don't seem to know any of your family who 
wear the brown coats," said the anemone. 

" Ah, the House-Spiders, you mean. No, I do not 
expect you know them, for you all live out of doors 
as I do, but they live in houses and spin plain brown 
webs in the corners of rooms." 

" What other relations have you, Mr. Spider ? " 
asked the rose-bush. 

" Oh, numbers of others if I had only time to tell 
you about them, but I cannot stay any more as I 
must really get my breakfast, but perhaps some other 
day I can tell you about the spiders that live under 
water " 

"Live under water!" they exclaimed, "but how 
can they breathe without air ? " 

"They bottle some and take it down with them," 
he explained, " and come up again when they want 
some more — those are my cousins the Water-Spiders. 
I could tell you lots about them. They have lovely 
nests that shine like silver and their eggs are a 
golden colour." 

" Oh, how I should love to hear about them," cried 
the rose-bush ; " and what others will you tell us about 
some day? " 

" More about the Water-Spider family, for there 
are several different kinds. There is one that 
walks on the water, and another that builds a little 
raft to sail in — he goes out and catches insects as 
they skim over the water. In fact, I could tell you 



SPIDER WEB CORNER 



*9 



lots more, for we are a big, big family, but I must 
stop now." 

" Well, we have enjoyed ourselves," said Miss Rosie, 
" and we shall try and remember all that you have 
kindly told us." 

" Very pleased, I am sure," said the spider, " but 
whatever you do, be sure and remember that I am 
not an insect!" and with a laueh he ran off. 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 



SUMMARY 

The west wind talks with a heartsease and she tells 
him how much she wishes that she had wings so as to 
fly, like the butterfly, enquiring if it is the gentle breath 
of the wind which lifts up the wings of the latter. The 
wind says that it is not, and advises her to ask a 
butterfly about it. She does so the next time one 
passes, and the butterfly brings some of her playfellows 
and they tell how once upon a time they were not 
pretty and had no wings, but were each a little cater- 
pillar and then a chrysalis, before they became bright, 
beautiful butterflies. 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 



WHAT are you dreaming about, little Miss 
Heartsease ? " asked the west wind as he 
gently kissed the edge of her purple gown and softly 
rustled in the leaves of the lime-tree above her 
head. 

" Ah, dear Wind," replied the heartsease with a 
tiny sigh, " I was wishing — that's all ! " 

" Wishing for what ? " he asked. " You are gener- 
ally so contented." 

" Wishing that I had wings like a butterfly." 

" You are very sweet as you are," he said. 

But the heartsease was still thinking of her wish 
and continued : 

" Could not you make me fly, dear Wind ? for 
surely it must be you that gently raises the pretty 
wings of the butterfly ! " 

" Indeed you are mistaken, Miss Heartsease," he 
replied. 

" Well," cried the heartsease, " I wonder if she 
could help me to fly. It must be lovely to go up 
towards the blue sky as she does." 

" Why not ask her ? " suggested the wind. 



24 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" She would not hear me, for I am so little," sighed 
the heartsease. 

" Still, you could but try to make her hear the next 
time she passes your way," persisted the wind. 

" Yes, I might certainly try," answered the hearts- 
ease. She was silent for a moment, then she added : 
" And perhaps, dear Wind, you will bear my voice up 
to her." 

" That I will," he promised. " Now you must 
watch for your butterfly." 

Then, whilst the heartsease watched, the wind 
passed up and down the garden, and the other 
flowers bowed their heads as he came, to hear the 
pretty message he had for each of them. 

After patiently waiting for a little time, the hearts- 
ease saw her favourite butterfly come fluttering into 
the garden. She had a broad orange patch on the 
tip of her front wings. She stopped for a moment 
to rest on one of the sweet honey flowers, then 
started off again, and after taking one sip of the 
nectar from the ivy-bloom, came quite near to where 
the heartsease lived. So Miss Heartsease determined 
to speak to her, and the wind, true to his promise, 
bore her little voice up to the gay butterfly. 

"Sweet Butterfly, 

Come whisper to me 
Of all the fair things that, in flying, you see. 

Would I had wings ! 

Then like you I'd fly 
Above the green earth, beneath the blue sky." 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 



25 



The butterfly hovered a moment, then fluttered 
gently down close to the heartsease, saying : 

" Well, little Miss Heartsease, that was very pretty. 
I wish I could say verses like that ! " 

" Fancy your wishing ! " she exclaimed. " Do you 
know I have been wishing something too." 




The heartsease noticed that all the bright colours were hidden. 



" Have you ? " answered the butterfly. " Do tell 
me what it was." 

She perched herself as she spoke upon the trunk 
of the lime-tree, folding her wings upwards, and the 
heartsease noticed as she did so that all the bright 
colours were hidden. 

" I hardly like to tell you," said the heartsease 
shyly. 



26 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Oh ; please do," cried the butterfly;/' I do so want 
to know what you wished." 

" I wished that — that I had beautiful wings like 
you, sweet Butterfly," she answered. " Do you mind 
telling me how you got them ? " 

"Well, I did not always have them," replied the 
butterfly. " Once upon a time I was an ugly little 
caterpillar." 

11 How very strange ! " exclaimed the heartsease in 
surprise. " Then weren't you always a butterfly ? " 

" Oh, no, I was two other things before that. First 
a caterpillar, then a chrys " 

" Stop one moment, please," said the heartsease. 
" I am getting quite confused, and cannot think how 
you can be a caterpillar and a chrys — chrys some- 
thing " 

" Chrysalis," said the butterfly politely. 

"Chrys — chrys — I cannot quite say it — and yet be 
a butterfly." 

" I will try and tell you if you would really like to 
hear." 

" Oh, indeed I should," said the heartsease, " and 
you must be sure and tell me how you got your 
wings. But may I just ask the other flowers to 
listen ? " she added ; " for I know they would like to 
hear too." 

" Pray do, little Miss Heartsease, for I love the 
flowers and often listen to you all talking. Whilst 
you tell the others I will just fly off and sip a drop 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 



27 



of honey, and will try and find some of my play- 
fellows to bring back with me." 

As she spoke she fluttered away to the other end 
of the garden, and the heartsease watched her alight 
upon the honeysuckle, which was filling the garden 
with its sweet scent. Then she called to the other 
flowers and told them what a surprise she had had 
about the butterfly, and asked them if they would 
like to listen to what she was going to tell them when 
she came back. 

They were all delighted and promised to ring the 
bells when they saw the butterfly coming. 

They had not long to wait, for very soon the 
butterfly returned, and with her came a pretty little 
blue one, and another with a body of dark blue and 
with red and blue wings, on each of which was a large 
bright eye-spot; whilst just behind followed two 
more, one having pale yellow wings with four red 
spots on them, and the second with red markings 
and white spots on its black wings. 

The lily-bells rang loudly, and the flowers waved 
and bowed their heads to welcome their lovely 
visitors, whilst the wind hummed a gentle tune to 
the accompaniment of the rustling leaves. 

Miss Heartsease's special friend led the way and 
settled back again near her on the trunk of the lime- 
tree, the others hovering in the air darting in and out 
among the flowers. 

" I have brought my playfellows with me, you 



28 



INSECT WONDERLAND 




The lily-bells rang loudly 



see," began the butter- 
fly, "to help me tell 
you all that happens 
to us before we get 
our wings and gay 
dresses. Now, what 
would you like to hear 
about first? " 

" Oh, tell us right 
from the beginning, 
please," cried the 
heartsease ; " we are 
so anxious to know if 
you were joking when 
you said that you were 
once a little cater- 
pillar!" 

" No, indeed I was 
not joking," replied the 
butterfly ; " it is not 
so very long ago that 
I came out of the egg 

" Oh, you come out 
of an egg, then, like 
Mrs. Thrush's little 
ones ! " chimed in the 
sweet-pea. 

" Yes, out of an egg," 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 29 

answered the butterfly, " but a much smaller one 
than Mrs. Thrush's." 

"And do you live in a nest?" enquired the 
anemone. 

" No," answered the butterfly ; " some lay their eggs 
under the leaves of the stinging nettles, and others 
under flowers and twigs." 

" Nettles seem a strange place for eggs," said the 
heartsease thoughtfully. 

" Not at all," replied the butterfly ; " there is a very 
good reason for laying them there— it is to keep 
them safe, for few creatures want to eat stinging 
nettles ! " 

" Well, certainly it is a good way of keeping them 
safe," agreed the flowers. 

" You do not all lay them on nettles, though," said 
the mignonette. 

" No, not all," replied the butterfly ; " but I think 
you do, ' Red Admiral,' do you not ? " 

"Yes," answered the one with the red markings 
and white on its black wings, poising himself lightly 
as he spoke a little higher up the lime-tree, " we lay 
our eggs under the nettles, and so does ' Peacock.' " 

" They've got names," whispered the lily to the 
mignonette in great excitement. 

" Yes," said the butterfly, who overheard the 
remark, " we have all got our names. I really must 
apologise for not saying this before and introducing 
my playfellows properly." 



30 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" We should like to hear all your names," said the 
lily timidly. 

" You know ' Red Admiral ' now," said the butter- 
fly, " so I needn't introduce him. — Make your bow to 
our friends," she added, and the butterfly fluttered 
gently up and down. " And this little one like a 
flower is called ' Blue-wing,' " she went on. " Over 
there on the rose-bush is ' Peacock ' with the lovely 
red and blue wings — we are very proud of her, but 
she is not at all conceited, although she is so hand- 
some ; and then I must not forget my dear little 
playmate ' Brimstone ' with her pale yellow wings. 
Now you know us all." 

"No, no," cried the flowers, "you have not told us 
your name yet ! " 

" Oh, I am ' Orange-tip,' " said the butterfly 
modestly. " Let me see, where had we got to ? " 

" You were telling us about the eggs being laid on 
the nettles," said the heartsease. " Do you lay yours 
there too, Orange-tip ? " 

" No," she replied, " we lay ours under the leaves of 
a plant which grows by the roadside. Perhaps you 
do not know it in this garden. It has pink and 
white flowers and its petals form a cross. Then 
there's Brimstone, who lays hers in quite a different 
place. You tell them," she said, looking towards her. 

" We lay ours among the twigs of the alder trees 
by the river-side," she replied, fluttering forward with 
outspread wings, and resting lightly upon the edge 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 31 

of the anemone. " You flowers will all know us 
Brimstones, I think, for we are the first butterflies 
to come out in the Spring." 

" Yes, yes," came in a chorus from the flowers, " we 
know jw/, but we did not know your name before." 

" But I am wondering, if you have no nest or any- 
thing, how the eggs get hatched," suddenly enquired 
one of the Miss Sweet-peas. 

'* Oh, the warmth of the sun hatches them," replied 
Orange-tip, " and then out come the caterpillars 
and " 

" There ! I told you," exclaimed the heartsease in 
excitement. " Orange-tip was a caterpillar before she 
was a butterfly, and you would hardly believe me ! " 

" But you were surprised yourself, Pansy dear, 
were you not ? " said the gentle voice of the mignon- 
ette. 

" Yes, so I was, Mignonette. It is only that I 
forgot — I was so excited — and it was rude of me, 
too, to interrupt Orange-tip. I am sorry. Please go 
on about the caterpillars." 

" I was going to ask Peacock to tell you about 
them," she replied, " whilst I take a little rest. Now, 
do tell them," she urged, for the beautiful butterfly 
was very shy, and was trying to hide away under the 
lavender-bush. 

" Please, please do," cried the flowers ; " we want so 
much to know what you do when you are a cater- 
pillar." 



32 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Well, we eat and eat and eat until we can eat no 
more," said Peacock, flying out from her hiding-place 
and perching upon the trunk of the lime-tree close 
beside Red Admiral, who chimed in : 

" Yes, eat until our skin gets so full that we can 
eat no more." 

"What happens then?" asked the heartsease. 

" We have to keep quiet for a time, and we swell 
out the rings on our body," replied Peacock. " Then 
suddenly one day the skin splits and we creep out 
of it." 

" Creep out of your skin ! " exclaimed the flowers, 
looking quite frightened. " Oh ! how do you get on 
without a skin ? " 

" We have a nice new soft one, all ready under- 
neath, which stretches out as the old one did," 
explained Peacock, "so we begin eating again as 
happily as possible until that skin gets too tight and 
splits like the other. This goes on several times 
whilst we are caterpillars." 

" And then ? " asked the flowers anxiously. 

" When we have grown big enough we stop eating 
and do not move for a great many days, but keep 
very quiet ; our colour fades, our skin splits once 
more and we wriggle it off. Little bits of our butter- 
fly dress can be seen underneath, but it is not finished, 
and our body is very soft and tender." 

The flowers were breathless with excitement. Then 
the mignonette asked softly : 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 



33 



" What keeps your 
tender body from get- 
ting hurt?" 

" A kind of gum 
oozes out all over it," 
explained Peacock; 
" this gets hard and 
keeps our body safe 
whilst it is growing 
into a butterfly." 

" And then you are 
another sort of cater- 
pillar, I suppose," said 
the lily shyly. 

" xNo, Miss Lily-bell, 
I am no longer a cater- 
pillar, but a chrysalis." 

" That's the word 
you couldn't tell us, 
Pansy," exclaimed the 
flowers in the greatest 
excitement. " Chrysa- 
lis, chrysalis, chrysa- 
lis ! " they cried all 
together. 

" Yes, a chrysalis. 
Now, Red Admiral, 
will you tell them about 
this ? " 
3 




Chrysalises and Caterpillars. 



34 INSECT WONDERLAND 

Red Admiral flew forward at once, for he was 
rather tired of keeping still, and was pleased when 
Peacock called him out. Orange-tip returned at this 
moment and asked if the flowers had enjoyed hearing 
about the caterpillars. 

" Very, very much," they cried. " And now Red 
Admiral is going to tell us about a chrysalis." 

" Our chrysalises," said Red Admiral, " are fastened 
under the leaves of the stinging nettles by silken 
threads and hang head downwards looking as if they 
were dead. But they only stay like this for a little 
time, and then one sunny day they break out of the 
chrysalis very much as they did when they were 
caterpillars out of the egg, but instead of being 
creeping, crawling, greedy caterpillars any more, they 
are butterflies and have " 

" Wings ! " whispered the flowers in awed tones ; 
and at the same moment the lilies rang their bells, the 
wind stirred and rustled the leaves of the lime-tree, 
and the flowers sang all together in a soft chorus : 

" Would we had wings ! 
Then like you we'd fly 
Above the green earth, beneath the blue sky." 

And while they sang the butterflies danced in the 
sun. 

"Is there anything more we can tell you, dear 
flowers ? " asked Orange-tip. 

There was a moment's silence, then the soft voice 
of the mignonette was heard saying timidly : 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 



35 



" I would like to ask one thing, please." 

" And what is that ? " enquired Orange-tip kindly. 

" Well, you look so gay when you are flying, but 
when you were all resting I noticed that we could no 
longer see your bright colours, for your wings hid 
them. Why is this ? " 

" For safety," answered the butterfly. 

" But why would you not be as safe," enquired the 
sweet-pea, " if your bright colours showed ? " 

" Other creatures might kill us," replied Orange- 
tip, " so you see we have to protect ourselves like 
that, otherwise we should have been killed long ago, 
and there would have been no more butterflies. That, 
too, is the reason why the underside of my wings is 
green and white, for then when I sip the honey from 
the parsley flowers I can scarcely be seen, for I am so 
like them." 

" Other insects protect themselves by their colour, 
just as we do," put in Brimstone ; " Mr. Spider is the 
colour of a dead leaf so that the birds may not see 
him, and Mr. Bee in his coat of brown and gold looks 
like the centre of the flowers out of which he sips the 
honey." 

" May I ask something too, Orange-tip ? " enquired 
the heartsease. 

" By all means," replied the butterfly. " What is 
it?" 

" Well, my friend Prim — the Evening Primrose, 
you know — told me that there were some butterflies 



36 INSECT WONDERLAND 

which fly chiefly at night. Are these any relations 
of yours ? " 

Orange-tip thought for a moment, then said : 

" Oh, I know what Miss Prim means — those are 
moths, not butterflies. I cannot tell you much about 
them, except that their feelers are thick in the centre, 
and pointed at the end, and have little feathers on 
them ; whilst ours are round and thick and have no 
feathers. Then, too, whilst we fold our wings up- 
wards over our backs when we rest, they lay theirs 
down on their back, like a — a " 

" Bird," suggested Peacock. 

" Yes," said Orange-tip, " that is right." 

" But are they caterpillars and chrysalises before 
they are moths ? " asked the mignonette. 

" Oh, yes, just the same as we are ; only their 
caterpillars do much more harm in the garden than 
ours do ; but they have the same family name that 
we have." 

" Have you got a family name too ? " asked the 
rose-bush, who had been listening attentively all the 
time but had not spoken before. 

" Yes," said Orange-tip, "the family name of moths 
and butterflies is ' Lepidoptera,' which means ' scale- 
winged.' " 

" That is even a harder name than Mr. Spider's," 
said the rose-bush thoughtfully. 

" I do wish you could tell us some more about the 
moths," sighed the heartsease. 



BUTTERFLY GREEN 



37 



" I wish we could," answered Orange-tip ; " but we 
know them so little, as it is only a few of them that 
ever fly by day." 

" I shall certainly ask Prim to speak to Humming- 
bird Moth, and I shall tell her, too, that they are not 
butterflies which she sees at night." 

" No/' said Orange-tip, " they are not butterflies, 
for we are creatures of the sun. We only live a little 
time, but although it is a short life it is a gay and 
merry one." 

The flowers felt very sad when they heard that 
their pretty visitors would only be with them for 
a short time. 

Then the sweet-pea said softly : 

" Never mind, we are such good friends whilst you 
stay with us, sweet butterflies, and it makes us glad 
and gay also to see you dance in the sunshine." 

"And we, too," said Orange-tip, "should not be 
half so happy if it were not for the flowers, for we 
come to you for rest when we are tired, and for 
nectar to refresh us when we are weary with our sun- 
dances ; so what should we do if you had wings and 
flew away? " 

"If that is so, sweet butterflies," exclaimed the 
heartsease, " never again will we wish for wings, but 
only be glad and contented that we are flowers ! " 

Then with a flash of bright colour and a flutter of 
wings Orange-tip and her playmates fluttered away 
over the sunlit garden. 



FLY WALK 



SUMMARY 

Two flies are buzzing about in a room to the great 
annoyance of a parrot, who enquires if they cannot do 
anything more useful. The elder fly enters into con- 
versation with the parrot, as to the reason of the buzz- 
ing sound they make, and the latter is surprised to 
learn that it is caused by the rapid movement of their 
wings. A canary joins in and he and the parrot ask 
the fly a great many questions about himself and in 
what way he is different from the spider. They are 
surprised to find how beautifully the fly is made and 
also that he is of some use in the world. 



FLY WALK 



o H! 

W ab 



what are you making all that buzzing 
about ? " cried the parrot ; " you really quite 
make my head ache. Don't you ever do anything 
useful ? " 

The fly stopped a moment and stood still upon 
the window-pane, looking at the parrot. Then he 
answered pertly : 

" I am quite as useful as you are, and perhaps 
more so ! " 

" Hush, hush ! " cried a larger fly, who was resting 
quietly on the brass ring at the top of the cage. 
" That's not the way you should speak to your elders. 
It would have been more polite had you said that 
you were sorry that your buzzing noise annoyed 
Mr. Mr. " 

"'Prempeh' is my name," said the parrot, "just 
1 Prempeh,' not ' Mister ' anything ; and yours is " 

" ' Fly ' for short, but ' House- Fly ' is my full name." 

" Ah, ' Fly ' does nicely for me," answered the 
parrot. " But what relation are you to that rude 
youngster ? " 

"Just an elder brother," replied the larger fly. 
41 



42 



INSECT WONDERLAND 



" He is quite young and rather giddy, so you must 
please forgive him." 

" Well, it seems to me," said the parrot, "that he 
wants teaching manners. I know I had to be cor- 
rected when I was little, and even now if I make too 
much noise I have a great cover put over me." 




Oh ! what are you making- all that buzzing - about ? 
cried the parrot. 



" It is certainly better to be corrected when one 
is young, for it is not nice to grow up rude," agreed 
the fly. 

" I am very sorry," said the little fly humbly, "but 
as my brother said, I am young and giddy." 

" Don't think anything more about it, Buzzy," said 
the parrot kindly, "but be advised by your big brother, 
for he has lived longer in the world than you have." 



FLY WALK 43 

" Yes," answered Buzzy, " I nearly got into 
trouble the other day through not taking his advice." 

" How was that ? " asked Prempeh. 

" Brother told me on no account to go near Mr. 
Spider's web in the corner of the garden over by the 
rose-bush," said Buzzy ; " but I thought I would peep 
in and as nearly as possible got caught, just as my 
poor little brother was." 

" Well, it would really have been your own fault if 
you had been," said the parrot. " But what did the 
spider want with you ? " 

Both flies laughed, and the elder one said : 

" I expect he thought the little one would make 
him a nice dainty breakfast ! " 

" You don't mean that he wanted to eat him ! " 
exclaimed the parrot, looking quite frightened. 

" I am afraid he did," said the fly. " We have 
lots of enemies, you know ; Mr. Spider is not the 
only one." 

" Do you really mean by enemies other creatures 
that eat you ? " enquired the parrot. 

" Yes," answered both flies together. 

" Dear me ! I am glad that birds are not like 
that ! " he said with a self-satisfied air. 

" But excuse me," said the fly, " there are many 
birds which are, and fish too ! " 

"Well, I feel quite sorry about it," said Prempeh, 
and he was thoughtful for some moments. 

Then Buzzy said timidly : 



44 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Would you mind if I flew about a little ? 
Although," he added, " I am afraid if I do that I 
shall not be able to help making the sound which 
vexes you." 

" Oh, fly about by all means," said the parrot, 
" but I cannot understand why you must make that 
sound." 

" Please ask brother," said Buzzy, "he can tell you 
best." 

" Our wings make the buzzing sound," explained 
the fly. 

" Your wings ! " exclaimed the parrot. " How 
strange ! I thought you must be making that 
sound with your mouth. I really feel puzzled, for 
when I flap my wings they don't buzz a bit ! " 

" No," answered the fly ; " you see, your wings are 
rather different, they are covered with feathers ; ours 
have a very thin gauzy covering and are held out on 
a little frame, and when we move them very fast 
they make the buzzing sound." 

" That's really quite interesting," said the parrot, 
putting his head on one side and looking at the fly. 
" Now when I come to think of it," he continued, 
" there was a little flying creature, something like 
you, in the land I came from. I didn't always live 
in a cage, you know." 

" Didn't you ! " exclaimed the fly in astonishment. 

i; Oh dear, no," he replied. " I was born in a great 
big forest, and came all the way over the sea in a 



FLY WALK 45 

little cage, and when I got here I was given this nice 
big one to live in." 

" And how do you like it ? " enquired the fly. 

" Very much indeed ; I feel it is quite my home 
now, and I have numbers of friends and lots of good 
things to eat, so I am ever so happy. But I was 
telling you about that little creature, wasn't I ? It 
used to make a humming sound ; when you buzz 
you always remind me of it, though I don't quite 
know what it was called." 

The fly thought a little ; then he said : 

" It must be a mosquito you mean." 

" How do you know ? " asked the parrot. " Do 
they live here too, as well as in my country ? " 

" Hardly ever, I think," said the fly ; " but they 
are the same tribe as we are, and something like a 
cousin of ours, who flies about in the garden here, 
and whose name is ' Gnat '." 

" And does your cousin hum like a mosquito ? " 
enquired the parrot. 

" Yes," answered the fly ; " and he bites like him 
too, only not quite so hard as he does." 

"You seem a large family," said the parrot re- 
flectively. 

" We are, very large," he replied ; " I mean the 
fly family itself, to say nothing of our cousins, Gnat, 
Mosquito, Midge, and Daddy-long-legs." 

" I suppose you are really a kind of little bird," 
said the parrot, " as you have wings." 



4fi INSECT WONDERLAND 

"Oh, no!" nic.l both the flies together. 

"Then what are you?" enquired Prempeh in 
surprise. 

" We are insects," they said. 

A little chirrup was heard at this moment, and 
the parrot and flies looked quickly round towards 
a small gilt cage which hung in the other window. 

"Ah!" cried Prempeh; "it is you, Goldie. Did 
you speak ? " 

The canary — for it was he who had made the 
chirrup — answered : 

" Well, I didn't exactly speak, but I called out, for 
I was wondering how Mr. Fly knew he was an 
insect and not a bird." 

" That is just what I was wondering myself," said 
the parrot. 

"Of course we know that we are insects? answered 
the fly. 

"But," persisted the parrot, " the thing is, do you 
know wky you are insects?" 

11 Yes," said the 11)' firmly, " 1 do know, although 
1 will not pretend that I could have explained it 
SO well to you if I had not heard something that 
Mr. Garden-Spider was saying the other clay." 

" That was when I nearly got caught in the web," 
chimed in Huzzy. 

' Yes," answered his brother, " 1 saw you were 
going too near, and, remembering how your little 
brother was caught, I flew out of the window to 



FLY WALK 



47 



warn you. Then I heard the spider talking to the 
flowers and telling them that he was not an insect, 
so I hid myself underneath a bush, for I wanted to 

know what lie was." 

"And what did he say?" enquired the parrot, 
coming to the edge of the cage as he spoke. 

" lie began boasting first of all that he had eight 
legs and that insects had only six." 

" And did yon count your legs?" asked Goldie. 

"Yes, I did," replied tin- fly; "just to make sure, 
and I found I had only six right enough." 

" And when he had boasted of his eight legs, what 
more did he tell the flowers?" enquired the parrot. 

"He said that insects were cut into three parts, 
but that his head was not clearly divided from his 
bod)', and that this was another reason why he was 
not properly an insect." 

" Hut what about your body ? " continued the parrot. 
" Is it divided into two more parts?" 

"Yes," answered the (ly ; "see lor yourself," and 
he came off the; brass ring as he spoke and (lew 
closer to Prempeh. 

" I see your head," said the: parrot, "but what are 
those three rin^s next to it?" 

"That is my chest," he replied, " and if you look 
you will see some more rings — that is my hind 

body." 

The parrot looked carefully, then he: said : 

" Yes, I see the three parts, just as you say," and 



48 INSECT WONDERLAND 

he nodded his head as he repeated, "head, chest, 
and hind body." 

" Now look and see that he has got the six legs ! " 
cried Goldie in excitement. 

" Ah, yes ! " said Prempeh. " Do you mind turn- 
ing round the other way, Fly, so that 1 can count 
your legs and see that they are really all there ? " 

The fly obediently turned round. 

" It's all right, Goldie ! " he called out. " Do you 
remember that I said there were three rings next to 
his head ? " 

" Yes, yes ! " cried Goldie, " I remember." 

" Well," said the parrot ; " he's got two legs on 
the first ring — one on each side — and two more on 
the next ring — how many is that, Goldie?" 

" Four," answered the canary promptly. 

" That's right," said the parrot ; " be sure you keep 
count whilst I call out. Now let me see — yes, there 
are two more legs on the last ring. How many had 
we got ? " 

" Four," repeated the canary, " so the two on the 
last ring make six." 

" Quite correct," replied the parrot, " four and two 
certainly make six. But wait a moment — what is 
this ? " 

" What is what ? " asked the fly, who had been 
patiently standing still whilst his legs were counted. 

" What are those funny little stumps with hairs on 
them near your last legs ? " enquired the parrot. 



FLY WALK 



49 



" Ah ! " said the fly, " we could not get on without 
those ; they help us to balance ourselves when we fly, 
because we have only two wings, not four as some 
insects have. This, too, is why our grand tribe name 
is ' Diptera.' " 

" Say that last word again, if you don't mind," 
interrupted the parrot, " and you might tell us what 
it means." 

" I will spell it," said the fly. " D-I-P-T-E-R-A. 
The last bit of it '-ptera ' means wings, and ' di ' stands 
for two. It is quite easy really — ' Two-winged ' — 
you see, don't you ? " 

" Yes, I think I see it," said Prempeh doubtfully, 
" but I was going to say I should have thought two 
wings were quite enough for a little crea — insect like 
you ; Goldie and I have to manage with two." 

" Oh, yes," answered the fly, " we are quite satisfied 
with them. Now shall I turn round for you to see 
my wings ? " 

" Keep still for a minute," cried the parrot, " I am 
looking at your feet. You seem to have little claws 
and pads covered with hairs — what is the use of 
those ? " 

" To keep us from falling for one thing," he ex- 
plained, " and as well as that it makes us able to 
walk ' upside down.'" 

" Shall I show them ? " called out Buzzy. 

" Yes, do," said his brother. " Just show them how 
you can run up and down the window-pane." 
4 



50 



INSECT WONDERLAND 




take care you don't fall," 
cried Goldie. 



Off went Buzzy and 
did as he was told. 

" There, you see," 
cried the fly, "he 
doesn't fall, because 
the little pad and 
hairs suck the air 
from under his feet and 
hold him up." 

" Wonderful ! " ex- 
claimed both the 
birds. " Really won- 
derful ! " 

" Now, Buzzy," said 
his brother, " show 
them how you can 
walk upside down." 

Buzzy flew up to the 
ceiling and began 
walking about. 

" Oh ! take care you 
don't fall," cried Goldie, 
fluttering about with 
anxiety. 

" He's all right," said 
the fly, "don't be 
frightened. The little 
hairs on his feet catch 
on to anything that 



FLY WALK 51 

is rough or sticking out, and keep him from fall- 
ing." 

" Well, I am really glad to know that it is quite 
safe," said Goldie, " for I watched you the other day 
walking on the ceiling and I felt very nervous, for I 
expected every moment you would fall." 

The flies laughed. 

" Now," said the parrot, " if you wouldn't mind 
turning round I should just like to see how your 
wings are fastened on." 

The fly good-naturedly turned round at once and 
the parrot carefully examined his wings. 

" They are joined on to the second ring, Goldie ! " 
he called out. 

" Are they really ? " replied Goldie. " I wondered 
how they were fastened on." 

11 Thank you, Fly," said the parrot. " You have 
been most good-natured in answering all my ques- 
tions." 

" I have enjoyed it," replied the fly, " for I find that 
we are thought to be common little things not worth 
looking at." 

" Well, I must say," said the parrot, " you have 
never struck me as being much to look at, but of 
course I think differently now that I have examined 
you closely and seen how beautifully you are made. 
Please don't fly away yet, for I am only just going to 
get a particular seed that I have had my eye on 
ever since I began talking to you." 



52 INSECT WONDERLAND 

He reached down from his perch and picked up 
the coveted seed, but in getting up again he dropped 
it. 

" Dear me, how provoking ! " he exclaimed, scram- 
bling down to the bottom of his cage. " I do believe 
I have lost that nice seed after all. It is most vex- 
ing," he continued, as he looked about everywhere. 

" There it is ! " cried the fly, " down there — just 
underneath your drinking fountain ! " 

" So it is ! " exclaimed the parrot, seizing upon the 
seed. " But how did you manage to see it ? " 

" We have such big bright eyes," replied the fly. 

" Come back close to me again," said the parrot, 
" and let me have a look at them." 

The fly returned to his former place, and the par- 
rot, after looking at him attentively for a moment, 
said : 

" I see that your two eyes are very large for your 
little head. No wonder you can see so quickly." 

" I expect really it is having such a number of 
eyes that makes us able to see so well," said the fly. 

" Number of eyes ! " exclaimed the parrot. " What 
do you mean ? Surely you don't call two eyes a 
number ! You are getting a bit boastful, like Garden- 
Spider about his legs," he added scornfully. 

" But — but," stammered the fly, " indeed I am not 
boastful, Prempeh. I only meant to explain that our 
two big eyes are made up of hundreds and hundreds 
of little tiny eyes." 



FLY WALK 



53 
What an extra- 



" Dear me ! " cried the parrot, 
ordinary thing." 

" And," continued the fly, " as well as this we have 
three little eyes in between the big ones." 

" Well, that is a number," said the parrot. " I 
must apologise for snapping you up as I did just 
now." 

" Oh, I do not wonder you were surprised," he 
answered. " For such little insects we have very 
large eyes." 

" Take a seed, Fly, won't you ? " said the parrot. 

" No, thanks," replied the fly, " but I should be glad 
of a sip of water." 

" Pray help yourself, my boy," cried Prempeh, 
" and whilst you are doing so I will have a nut." 

After a few moments Goldie asked suddenly : 

" Do you and Buzzy live with your mother?" 

" Oh, no," said the fly ; " our mothers never have 
time to look after us ; we have to manage for our- 
selves as soon as we come out of the egg. n 

" Are you little, like Buzzy, when you first come 
out ? " enquired the parrot, who had finished his nut 
and began clambering back again on to his perch. 

" We are really not a bit like flies at first," he 
replied. " We are just little white worms with rings 
and a pair of jaws like hooks." 

" And no legs or wings?" enquired Goldie 
anxiously. 

" No," said the fly, " they come afterwards." 



54 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" You could not have been pretty when you were 
a little worm with no legs or wings ! " exclaimed both 
birds together. 

" I am afraid I wasn't," laughed the fly good- 
humouredly. 

" But if your mother had no time to look after you, 
what did you get to eat? " asked Goldie anxiously. 

" Mother Fly is always careful to put her eggs 
where her little ones are sure to find food they can 
eat, so as to be able to grow," explained the fly. 

" But tell us how you get your legs and wings with 
no mother to look after you," persisted Goldie. 

" We do not get them for a time," said the fly. 
" First we only eat and keep growing, then we leave 
off eating, and rest in our grub-skins " 

" You said just now you were a worm," interrupted 
the parrot, " so how can you be a grub ? " 

" It is only another name for the same thing," he 
replied. 

" I see," said the parrot. " Well, go on, please. 
You rest in your grub-skin and then " 

" It grows hard," explained the fly, " and brown, 
and the worm gets shut up inside it." 

" I can't think how you are ever going to be a fly 
shut up inside there," sighed Goldie. 

" Our legs, wings, and head all grow whilst we are 
in there," continued the fly, " and when we are ready 
we push and push against our hard case until at last 
we break it open and come out a — fly ! " 



FLY WALK 55 

" I still cannot see how you can possibly grow your 
wings shut up in that little case," said the parrot 
thoughtfully ; " there is no room." 

" Oh, I quite forgot to say," added the fly, " that 
our legs and wings are all crumpled up when we are 
inside that little case, but directly we get out into the 
air we give ourselves a good shake, and if only we 
are able to get into the sun its heat dries our wings 
and we are soon able to spread them out and fly off 
and begin to enjoy our life." 

" Well, you are really marvellous little insects," 
said the parrot, " if anyone will take the trouble to 
look closely at you. It is only a pity that you are 
not of some use, instead of being merely little 
pests." 

" But you are mistaken," said the fly ; " maybe we 
are little pests, but we are of some use too, for we 
help, in a small way, to keep the earth clean ! " 

" Keep the earth clean ! " repeated the birds in 
astonishment ; " why, how do you do that?" 

" By eating up lots of things which would make 
you all ill if they were left about. So you see we 
are of some use, although I know those who think 
we are only a nuisance and can do nothing but buzz 
all day," said the fly, with a sly laugh. 

" Ah, now, Fly, you are making fun of me ! " 
exclaimed the parrot, " but I have changed my 
opinion since we began to talk." He was silent for a 
moment and then he added : " And I have learnt 



56 



INSECT WONDERLAND 



a lot from you, although you are only a little insect, 
and I am a big bird and came over the sea." 

" And so have I ! " cried Goldie. " Three cheers 

for Fly!" 




ROSE-BEETLE BOVVER 



SUMMARY 

The tall white lilies and some sweet-peas ask a rose 
why her lovely petals are torn. She says that the 
rose-beetle has eaten them, but that she is not angry 
with her as she is so beautiful and is named after her, 
and often talks with her as she sucks the honey deep 
down from her heart. She says that she understands 
she has many other relations, not so pretty as herself. 
She has also a dear little cousin, whom they all know — 
the ladybird. She is expecting them both as it is a 
sunny morning, and suggests that they shall each be 
asked to tell the lilies and sweet-peas about themselves. 



ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 



THE tall white lilies swayed gently to and fro in 
the breeze, whilst their nearest neighbours, the 
sweet-peas, nodded their pretty heads and whispered 
to each other. 

" It seems such a pity," said one. 

" I can't understand it ! " exclaimed another. 

" They were quite perfect yesterday morning," 
chimed in a third. 

" Shall we ask her ? " suggested the one who had 
first spoken. 

" Perhaps she might not like it," replied the 
others. 

Then they all began gently nodding their heads 
again, and there was silence, except for the hum of 
the bees as they went about their work, and the 
chatter of the birds in the trees above them. 

At last one of them said : 

" Suppose we ask the lilies what they think about 
it, for they live closer to her than we do." 

" Yes, yes, that is a good idea ! " came in a chorus 
from the flowers. " You ask them." 

So the sweet-pea raised her head as high as she 
could, and her soft voice was heard calling : 

59 



6b INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Lily-white ! " But there was no answer. " Lily- 
white ! " she called again. " turn this way, there's a 
dear; we want to talk to you." 

The nearest HI}- turned her graceful head and 
smiled at the sweet-peas as she asked : 

" Have you something nice to tell me, my little 
friends ? " 

'"No," they replied, "we want to ask you some- 
thing." 

"Ask me something!" repeated the lily in surprise. 

" Yes, you, Lily-white dear ! " cried the sweet-peas, 
" for we are so worried." 

"Are you?" exclaimed the lily, looking quite 
concerned. " What can you be worried about ? " 

"It is about the Rose-Queen," they said, "for see, 
her lovely petals are all torn ! We want to know 
what you and your sisters think can have caused 
it." 

The lily looked round at the rose ; then she 
said : 

" Yes, I see they are indeed torn." 

" And only yesterday morning they were so lovely," 
-aid the sweet-peas ; " what can have happened to 
them?" 

'• I cannot think." answered Lily-white. 

"Cannot think what-" enquired her twin-sister, 
who grew on the same stem as herself, only just 
a little higher up. 

•' What has hurt our Rose-Oueen's beautiful pink 



ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 61 

petals," she answered; " do you not see how they 
are torn ? " 

" So they are," replied Lily-twin — as she was called 
by her sisters. " Who can have done it?" 

" That is what we are wondering," cried the sweet- 
peas, " and we thought that perhaps one of you would 
ask the Queen." 

" I will," said Lily-white, " the next time she looks 
my way. I do hope it will be soon." 

" So do we ! " exclaimed the other flowers, " for we 
are so anxious to know." 

They waited a little, and then Lily-twin suddenly 
whispered to her sister : 

" Now, Lily-white — quick ! " 

The rose at this moment was being swayed by the 
wind quite close to her, so Lily-white seized the 
opportunity and said in a respectful voice : 

" Madame, may we ask you a question ? " 

The Queen of the garden turned her lovely face 
towards the flowers, and said in her pretty, gracious 
way : 

" Of course you may — what is it, dear flowers, you 
would say to me ? " 

Then Lily-white told her how concerned they were 
to see her petals torn. 

The Rose-Queen smiled and said : 

" Ah, I am afraid that is done by a little friend of 
mine, who is named after me." 

" Who is she, Madame ? " asked the flowers. 



62 



INSECT WONDERLAND 



" She is called Rose-Beetle," replied their Queen. 

" But are you not vexed with her, Madame," en- 
quired Lily-white shyly, " for destroying your lovely 
dress ? " 

" Oh, no," said the Rose-Queen. " To begin with, 
she is so lovely herself with her gold and green wings, 
and she does not understand that it spoils my dress ; 
and as well as this, she creeps right down into my 




She does not understand that it spoils my dress." 



heart and sometimes stays there for hours ; so how 
can I be vexed with her ? " 

" But your lovely petals ! " cried the flowers, " why 
should she destroy them ? " 

" They are her food," answered the Rose-Queen ; 
" she has a very delicate appetite and only cares for 
dainty food." 



ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 63 

" It is a pity, a great pity ! " murmured the flowers 
to themselves. 

" I believe she belongs to a rather large family," 
continued their Queen. 

" And do they all eat rose-leaves ? " enquired the 
sweet-peas anxiously. 

" I do not think so," she answered, " but I really 
only know my little friend, Rose-Beetle, and a dear 
little cousin of hers called ' Ladybird.' " 

" We know Ladybird," cried the flowers. 

" I should not wonder, as it is so warm and sunny 
this morning, if they were to pay me a visit," said 
the Rose-Queen. "If they should come, I will ask 
them to tell you a little about themselves." 

" Thank you, Madame," said Lily-white. " Per- 
haps, too, if Rose-Beetle is occupied, she will leave 
the rest of your lovely petals unharmed." 

" Yes, yes," agreed the flowers, " we hope she 
will." 

They had scarcely finished speaking, when the 
Rose-Queen's little namesake came flying along, her 
brilliant green and gold wing-cases shining brightly 
in the sun. 

"Ah ! here you are, little friend/' said the Rose- 
Queen. " Now instead of creeping away and hiding 
as you usually do, the other flowers want a chat with 
you." 

" A chat with me ! " exclaimed the rose-beetle 
shyly. 



64 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Yes," said Madame, " they are just a little vexed 
with you for spoiling my dress yesterday." 

" Are they? " said the rose-beetle, looking timidly 
round at the lilies and sweet-peas. " Are you vexed 
with me too, dear Queen ? " 

" No," said Madame gently, " I do not mind, 
because you are my little friend." 

The rose-beetle gave a sigh of relief, and turning 
again to the flowers, said : 

" Please forgive me, I did not intend to tear the 
Queen's beautiful dress, but you see I am an eating 
insect." 

"What do you mean?" enquired Lily-twin. "Surely 
all insects eat, or they would die ? " 

" Not so at all," answered the rose-beetle, " many 
insects drink their food. Your friends the bees and 
butterflies get their food by sucking it." 

" They never, never destroy our Queen's dress," 
chimed in the flowers reprovingly. " They only sip 
the nectar." 

" I also suck the honey," said the beetle ; then she 
added, looking rather ashamed, " but I have such 
a delicate appetite that I — I — chew the petals too, 
and I am afraid that this is how I did the mis- 
chief." 

" I am afraid it is," said Lily-white, drawing 
herself up and looking very dignified ; " but if you 
cannot eat anything else I suppose it cannot be 
helped. - ' 



ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 65 

The sweet-peas saw that the poor little beetle was 
very sad and ashamed, so they said kindly : 

" Our Queen says that you belong to a large 
family, and she promised if you came this morning 
that she would ask you to tell us something about 
yourself and your relatives." 

"Yes," said the Rose -Queen, "you might tell 
them first what you whispered to me one day all 
about where Mrs. Rose-Beetle lays her eggs, and 
how long you take growing into such beautiful 
insects." 

" There is nothing very beautiful about us at first, 
I can assure you," laughed the beetle ; " we are just 
nasty, fat, round white worms ; our heads are a pale 
brown colour, and we have a thin skin, with some 
hairs on it." 

" But you have not told us yet where Mrs. Rose- 
Beetle lays her eggs," interrupted the sweet-peas. 

" I was forgetting that," she replied. " She finds 
a nice place at the foot of a tree, then she goes 
down into the ground all amongst the roots of the 
tree, where the wood is nice and soft, and she puts 
her eggs there, between the wood and the bark." 

" But how can the little beetles ever get up here ? " 
enquired the flowers anxiously. 

" The little grubs — that is what we are called first 
of all — never do come up here," said the rose-beetle. 

" But there is nothing for them to eat down there," 
exclaimed the lilies. 
5 



66 INSECT WONDERLAND 

"Oh, yes, there is," replied the beetle — all that 
they want — for I expect you will be surprised to 
hear what they live on. Try and guess." 

" On ants," hazarded one of the sweet-peas timidly. 

" Not a bit of it," replied the beetle ; " they 
live on leaves and soft wood — what do you think of 
that ? " 

" It seems strange sort of food," exclaimed the 
flowers. 

" Talking of ants, though, reminds me," continued 
the beetle, " that sometimes our mothers put their 
eggs in an ants' nest ; however, they are very kind, 
and do not seem to mind this. But I expect you 
want to hear what the grubs do under the ground ? " 

" Yes, please," cried the flowers. 

"Well, I am afraid they are very lazy," said the 
beetle, " they do nothing but eat. When it is cold 
and frosty, they dig down deeper into the earth 
to keep warm, and go to sleep until the spring 
comes." 

" And then have they turned into beetles ? " en- 
quired the flowers. 

" Oh, no ; they go on living like this for two or 
three years. Then at last one day they make a ball 
of dead leaves and grass, or bits of wood they have 
cut up " 

" But how can they cut it up ? " enquired the 
flowers, who were by now deeply interested in what 
the beautiful little beetle was telling them. 



ROSE-BEETLE BOVVER 67 

" With their jaws, which are very strong," was the 
answer. 

"And when they have cut it up, what then?" 
asked Lily-white. 

" They fasten it all together with glue from their 
mouth, then they get inside and shut themselves up 
in the little ball or case." 

" Now I expect they are going to be beetles," 
whispered one sweet -pea to the other in excite- 
ment. 

" Not quite yet, Miss Sweet-pea," said the beetle, 
who had heard what was said, " their legs and wings 
have to grow first, you know." 

" Oh, yes," replied the sweet-peas, " we were for- 
getting that. Do they grow while they are in their 
little case ? " 

" Yes," answered the beetle, " and one fine warm 
day they come out, looking — well, better than when 
they were grubs," he added modestly. 

" Looking lovely ! " cried the flowers, " in their 
beautiful suit of green and gold." 

" I am glad you like our suits," said the beetle 
shyly. 

" We do, we do ! " cried the flowers ; and the sweet- 
peas began nodding their pretty heads again with 
pleasure. 

" There is one thing I want to ask you," said 
Lily-twin, " and that is — why you have two pairs of 
wings." 



68 



INSECT WONDERLAND 




My flying - wings come out from 
underneath, like this " 



" The top ones are 
only wing-covers," an- 
swered the beetle, " we 
fly with the underneath 
pair." 

"The wide, thin, 
gauzy-looking ones, you 
mean," said Lily-twin. 

"Yes," she answered ; 
" you see I only tip my 

wing-cases, so " and 

she proceeded to show 
them what she meant. 
Then she continued : 
" My flying wings come 
out from underneath 
them, like this " 

" Oh ! oh ! oh ! please, 
please do not fly away!" 
exclaimed the flowers 
in agitation, for the 
pretty little beetle had 
got her flying wings 
outspread, as though 
ready for flight. "We 
have lots more to ask 
you," they cried. 

" I was not going, I 
was only showing you," 



ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 69 

replied the beetle, well pleased that the flowers seemed 
getting so friendly. 

" And Madame tells us that dear little Ladybird is 
a cousin of yours," said Lily-white. 

" Yes," said the beetle, " she is one of the COLEO- 
PTERA family." 

" I know what ' -ptera ' means ! " exclaimed the 
eldest Miss Sweet-pea in excitement. 

" Do you ? " said the beetle. 

" I do really," she answered. " It means ' wings ' — 
but I do not know the other word," she added in a 
disappointed voice. 

" That's to do with the wing-cases," explained 
the beetle, " and means ' sheath ' — ' sheath-winged.' 
Ah, here comes Ladybird ! " she exclaimed. " Now 
you watch her, and you will see that she has wing- 
cases too, but she flies with her lower pair of 
wings." 

As she spoke, Ladybird alighted gently upon the 
Rose-Queen, who greeted her affectionately. 

" What were you saying about my wings ? " she 
asked the beetle, when she had returned the Rose- 
Queen's salutation. 

" I was only telling the flowers that you belong to 
the same family as I do," replied the beetle. 

" Ah ! but I have not such a grand suit as you have, 
cousin," answered the Ladybird. 

"Never mind," said the flowers, "you look very 
smart with your nice red wing-covers spotted with 



;o INSECT WONDERLAND 

black, and you are a dear little thing, and very useful 
into the bargain." 

" Very useful ! " exclaimed the rose-beetle in sur- 
prise; "how is Ladybird useful?" 

" Why, she is always eating up the little creatures 
which destroy plants." 

" And so do our grubs," chimed in Ladybird. 
" The mothers of our family always put their eggs 
near where these little creatures are, and the grubs 
climb up the stalks and eat them." 

" Then you do not live under the ground when you 
are a grub, as Rose-Beetle does ? " enquired the 
sweet-peas. 

" Oh, no," replied the ladybird, " we live on the 
plants, and after a while we glue ourselves to a leaf 
by our tails, and hang head downwards, until one day 
we become a ladybird, and off we fly." 

" And it is then you begin to be useful, I suppose? " 
enquired Miss Sweet-pea. 

" Yes," answered the ladybird. " Do you see the 
old apple-tree over there ? " 

The flowers nodded their heads. 

"Well," she continued, "just under a loose bit 
of bark, at the foot of that tree, some of those 
mischievous little green - fly laid their eggs, and 
out they came in the spring, but we ladybirds 
were ready for them. A number of us were watch- 
ing, and directly they appeared we ate up the 
grubs." 



ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 71 

" You certainly are useful little insects," said the 
rose-beetle. 

" Insects ! " exclaimed the sweet-peas. " Ladybird 
is an insect too," they said, looking at each other. 
" Do you remember we heard Mr. Spider explain- 
ing that day why he was not an insect ? " 

" Yes," answered another sweet-pea, " he was tell- 
ing how proper insects are divided into three parts. 
Are you divided properly, Ladybird ? " 

" Yes," she replied, " and so is Rose-Beetle, and 
we have six legs, and our wings, which are fastened 
on to the upper part of our chest, fold down over 
the back part of our body." 

" And what about your eyes ? " enquired the 
flowers, " for you must want sharp ones to see those 
mischievous green-flies." 

" Our eyes are something like House-Fly's ; we 
have two big ones, just as he has, made up of numbers 
and numbers of little ones." 

" No wonder you can see so well," said the flowers. 
" Do all your family have eyes like that? " 

" Yes," said the ladybird ; " and some of our rela- 
tions have two small eyes at the back of their head 
as well." 

" I think, Ladybird," suddenly said the rose-beetle, 
" before we go, we ought to tell the flowers that all 
our relations are not so small as we are ; some of them 
are very big, and some carry weapons." 

" Yes," replied Ladybird, " our Cousin Stag-Beetle 



72 



INSECT WONDERLAND 




The little Sextons. 



is very big. He has 
strong jaws for cutting 
up leaves and wood, and 
he can pinch hard with 
them when he wishes. 
But there is one thing 
I do not like about 
him," she continued, " he 
is so fond of fighting 
with his jaws, which are 
like two horns." 

" And he beats his 
cousins without horns," 
laughed the rose-beetle. 

"Then there is Cousin 
Sexton -Beetle — he's 
rather large." 

"What a strange 
name ! " exclaimed the 
flowers. " W T hy is he 
called so? " 

" Because if he finds 
a dead bird, or mouse, 
or any little animal, he 
buries it," replied Lady- 
bird. 

" What a clever bee- 
tle ! " cried the flowers. 
" How does he do it?" 



ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 73 

" He digs with his head all around in the earth, 
and the little dead body sinks in, then he puts the 
earth all over it, until it is quite covered up," ex- 
claimed the rose-beetle. 

" Now tell us about the cousins who carry 
weapons," begged the flowers. 

11 There is one family that carries a gun," said 
Ladybird. " Near their tail is a little bag full of 
fluid. They can throw out a drop of this fluid as 
they run. It sounds like a tiny gun going off 
bang ! As it flies out of the bag it makes a little 
smoke." 

" But what do they want guns for ? " enquired the 
flowers. 

" Well, this beetle is only a little fellow," explained 
Ladybird, " and big beetles like to chase him, but 
when he pops his gun off in the big beetle's face the 
latter runs away." 

The flowers rustled with amusement at this little 
story, and cried : 

" Tell us more, please, more ! It is so amusing." 

" Tell them about our water relations, Ladybird 
dear," said the rose-beetle. " They have a lovely 
home in the water and float on lily leaves." 

" Ah, Cousin Water-Beetle has a glorious life — but 
his body is made a little differently to ours," ex- 
plained Ladybird, " the parts fit more closely, so as 
to make them watertight. His wing-covers, too, are 
airtight, because he lives in a water home." 



74 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" But how can' he breathe in the water ? " asked 
Lily-white anxiously. 

" He comes up to the top, opens the breathing 
tubes under his wing-covers, and draws in some 
fresh air, then he shuts his wing-covers up tight 
and goes down again with plenty of fresh air to 
breathe." 

" But doesn't he ever use his wings to fly with ? " 
enquired the flowers. 

" Oh, yes," said the rose-beetle ; " on fine nights he 
flies up into the air, then when he has had enough, 
he turns, closes his wings, and drops into the water 
with a splash." 

" There is Glow- Worm too," said Ladybird. 

" Oh, we know Mr. and Mrs. Glow- Worm ! " cried 
the flowers. "Are they really relations of yours 
also ? " 

" Yes," said the rose-beetle ; ' ( we are very proud 
of them, because of the bright light they can give — 
they are the only ones which can do so." 

" We could tell you lots more about our relations," 
said Ladybird, " if only we had time, for there are 
hundreds and hundreds of them." 

"Hundreds and hundreds?" repeated the flowers 
rather doubtfully. 

" It is quite true," exclaimed the ladybird and 
rose-beetle together ; " we are not exaggerating." 

"Now," said Ladybird, " I really must go, but there 
s just one thing that I would like to say ; it is this — 



ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 



75 



if Rose-Beetle does sometimes spoil your Queen's 
dress, because she has such a dainty appetite, we, 
her cousins, at any rate make up for it, by destroying 
the little creatures which would eat up all your 
leaves, so that you would not have any left if it were 
not for us — the Ladybirds : so you must please for- 
give her." 

" We will, we will ! " cried the flowers, and as their 
tiny friend and ally flew off they added : " Come 
again soon, little Ladybird." 




Come again soon, little Ladybird." 



WASP CASTLE 



SUMMARY 

A robin begs a wasp not to be so greedy, but to leave 
him some of the raspberries and pears. He then goes 
on to ask him if he has a Queen, like the bee ; the 
wasp says that he has not, and tells something of his 
life and habits. 



WASP CASTLE 

A PAIR of bright eyes peeped out from amongst 
the branches of the big old apple-tree, and 
watched the wasp who was helping himself to the 
pears on the next tree. Then the owner of the eyes 
hopped up one branch higher. At last he could 
stand it no longer, and cried out : 

" Come, come ! leave some fruit for the rest of us ! " 

The wasp looked round. 

"Well, Master Impudence," he said, "and pray 
does this garden belong to you?" 

" No, it does not," replied the robin, " nor to you 
either ; but there is one thing — I have more right 
here than you have, for the gardener is a friend of 
mine." 

" Is he ? " said the wasp, returning to the pear he 
was busy on. 

"Yes, a great friend," continued the robin, "and a 
very kind man he is too ; he turns up the worms for 
me." Then he added with glee, " But he does not 
like you, because you spoil the fruit." 

" Not like me indeed ! " exclaimed the wasp. " I 
expect he's afraid of me because I carry a sword." 

79 






8o -INSECT WONDERLAND 

" A sword ! " cried the robin. " I cannot see it ! " 
" No ; but although you do not see it, Master Im- 
pudence, you had better take care that you do not 
feel it." 

" What is it for ? " asked the little bird cheer- 
fully. 




Come, come ! leave some fruit for the rest of us ! : 



" To fight with, of course," said the wasp sharply. 

" Dear me ! " he answered thoughtfully ; " I suppose 
you have a lot of righting to do, then ? We robins 
fight sometimes ; in fact, my friend, Mr. Gardener, 
says it is the only thing he does not like about us ; 
but we have no swords, we use our beaks. Haven't 
you got a beak ? " 



WASP CASTLE 



" No," said the wasp, " and that is another reason 
why we carry a sword ; we use it to kill things 
to eat." 

" I see," said the robin. " Are you using it now to 
kill the pear with ? " 

" How silly you are ! " retorted the wasp crossly. 
" Of course I am not. We use it when we want to 
kill insects to eat." 

" Insects !" exclaimed the robin in surprise; "but 
I thought you were an insect yourself!" 

" So I am," he replied, " but we eat other insects. 
" You seem so inquisitive, I should have thought you 
would have known that." 

" Now, dear boy, do not be so cross," said the robin 
pleasantly ; " it is not that I am inquisitive, but I 
want to know about everything. How do you think 
I know that you are an insect?" 

" I am sure I dorit know," replied the wasp. 

" Well, I heard the spider boasting about his eight 
legs, and saying that he was not an insect, but that 
you were." 

" Did you ? " said the wasp, showing some interest 
for the first time. " I suppose he did not say that he 
was afraid of my sword." 

" No," replied the robin. " I did not hear him say 
that." 

" Well, then, I cart tell you he is. If any of our family 
get into his net he runs out to have a look directly 
he feels the web shake, but when he sees our striped 



82 INSECT WONDERLAND 

coat, away he runs again as fast as possible, unless he 
is very, very hungry." 

" No, he certainly did not say anything about 
running away," said the robin. " I heard him, though, 
telling what a long name he had got. I cannot quite 
remember it, but it was a something " 

" Oh, yes," interrupted the wasp, " I know ; but 
that is nothing. Our family name is much longer." 

" Oh, do tell me ! " cried the robin. 

" You would never remember it if I did," was the 
reply. 

"Yes, yes, I should, if you said it very slowly," 
replied the robin excitedly. 

" Well, it is ' Hymenoptera,' " he said very fast. 

" Oh, do say it slowly, there's a dear ! " pleaded the 
robin, "and tell me what it means." 

" H-Y-M-E-N-O-P-T-E-R-A," he said, spelling it very 
slowly, " and it means we have wings that you can 
see through." Then he added sharply, " What more 
do you want to know ? " 

" Oh, lots of things," he replied, " but when you 
seem so disagreeable I can't remember them. You 
really look so nice in your striped coat that it 
seems quite a pity you are so cross, for it is no use 
being handsome if you have not polite manners as 
well." 

" Indeed, indeed ! " cried the wasp ; " you seem to 
think a lot of yourself, Master Impudence." 

"Oh, no, I don't," answered the little bird. "By 



WASP CASTLE 



83 



the by, my name is not ' Impudence,' I am ' Robin ' 
— ' Robin Redbreast,' you know." 

" Oh, yes, I know you," answered the wasp sourly ; 
" you are always hopping about ; you seem to have 
nothing to do." 

" I can assure you I have," he replied quickly ; 
" and Mrs. Robin Redbreast is very busy, when there 
are little ones to look after. Is Mrs. Wasp a good 
mother ? " 

" She is indeed, there could not be a better," he 
replied. " The queen-wasp " 

" Oh ! you have a queen then, as the bee has ? " 
interrupted the robin excitedly. 

" Yes, all the mothers of our family are queens," 
he answered. 

" Just the same as Bee's," cried the robin, and he 
began to hop about. 

"Steady now!" said the wasp. "Not 'just the 
same ' — because they are different ! " 

11 But how can a queen be different ? " he enquired. 

" Well, if you are patient I will tell you," said the 
wasp. " Our queen has to do all the work by herself 
at first. She has to find a nice place, then build a 
home and look after her family. The queen-bee 
does no work — she only goes out once — and has 
slaves to wait on her." 

" Do tell me how your queen builds her house all 
alone, and what she gives her little ones to eat, 
and " 



84 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Not so many questions at once, please," said the 
wasp severely. " Ah ! there is my Cousin Hornet ! 
I will ask him to come and help me, for I am really 
quite tired, you want to know so many things." 

The hornet — after stopping a moment to refresh 
himself at the raspberry-bush close by — joined the 
wasp on the pear-tree. 

" Good-day, Cousin," he said, " those raspberries 
are so refreshing." 

"Yes," answered the wasp, "although I like these 
pears best myself. Not that I have had a chance 
of getting much of anything, for Impu — I mean 
Robin Redbreast — wants to know so many things 
about our family." 

" Does he ? " said the hornet. " Well, you are 
wonderfully industrious, Cousin ; he might do worse 
than want to know about you." 

The robin was delighted, and sang a little song to 
himself whilst the cousins talked. 

" A glad and happy bird am I, 
'Neath summer sun or winter sky : 
'Tis said — I'm brave and merry too, 
That you love me and I love you. 

" Ere yet doth break the rosy dawn, 
My song is heard to greet the morn — 
And 'tis not till the setting sun 
That Robin Redbreast's song is done. 

" Perchance — if your cold wind doth blow — 
I from you for a space must go, 



WASP CASTLE 

Yet scarce a month e'er passes by, 
But backward home again I fly. 

Pray tell me — are you glad when he — 
Your Robin Red— comes back to thee? 



85 



" Thank you," said the hornet, " you sing very 
prettily. — Does he not, Cousin ? " 

11 Not amiss ! " replied the wasp. 

" I was only singing to myself," said the little bird 
modestly. " I felt so pleased when Hornet said 
there was no harm in my wanting to know about 
your family." 

" And what is it that you want to know? " enquired 
the hornet. 

"About the queen building her home and " 

" Now, Cousin," said the hornet, " you tell him 
about your part of the family, and then I will tell 
him about mine, whilst you go and have some rasp- 
berries," and he gave a sly look towards the apple- 
tree as he spoke. 

The robin was so pleased and excited that he 
nearly fell off the bough on which he was perched. 
The wasp took one more bite of the pear, and then 
said : 

" The queen-mother hides away all the winter, but 
one warm spring morning out she comes and looks 
for a nice hole to build her new house in." 

" She does not build it in a tree, then ? " exclaimed 
the robin in surprise. 



S6 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" No," he replied, " not our mothers, because we 
are ground-wasps — there are some relatives of ours 
who are tree-wasps. I will tell you about them later 
on." 

" Oh, thank you," cried the robin ; " I did not know ; 
I thought that all wasps were the same." 

" There are six different branches in your family, 
are there not, Cousin ? " put in the hornet, " and I am 
a seventh kind — a great big fellow, much larger than 
the rest of you." 

" Quite right," agreed the wasp. 

" And when the queen-mother has found a hole, 
what does she do next ? " enquired the robin. 

" She creeps into it, and makes it larger by biting 
the earth and pushing it away with her feet. Then 
she goes out and collects either little bits of wood off 
trees and posts, or else grass, leaves, or rushes." 

" But how can she get the wood off ?" enquired the 
robin. 

" She scrapes it with her jaws," he explained, " then 
she rolls it up into a neat little bundle, which she 
tucks under her jaws, and flies back to begin building 
her home." 

" I expect she is tired by then," said the robin. 

" She is," agreed the wasp, " so she rests a little, 
then she sets to work, and with a kind of glue out of 
her mouth, she makes what she has brought, into 
paper." 

" Paper ! " cried the robin ; " I can hardly believe it." 



WASP CASTLE 



37 



" We all make paper," 
said the hornet, with a 
little pride in his voice, 
" but of different kinds." 

"How wonderful!" 
exclaimed the robin. 
"Oh, tell me, Wasp, 
what does she do next?" 

" She fixes what she 
has made firmly into 
the top of the hole, and 
fastens it, with more 
glue out of her mouth, 
to the root of a plant or 
stone ; then she walks 
slowly backwards, un- 
rolling the little ball of 
paper as she goes and 
spreading it out. When 
she comes to the end 
of the roll, she runs for- 
ward and does the same 
thing all over again 
several times, until she 
has made her roof quite 
flat and smooth." 

"That is clever," said 
the robin in wonder. 
" Oh, do go on, please." 




The Ground- Wasp's nest. 



88 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Then she goes out again and collects another 
little bundle to bring home, with which to build some 
cells under her paper roof." 

" And what are the cells for ? " asked the robin 
breathlessly. 

" She lays an egg in each one, and glues it in ; she 
also puts in a little food." 

" Then I suppose she rests ? " said the robin. 

" Not a bit of it," cried the hornet and wasp to- 
gether ; " she is busier than ever, for soon her first eggs 
hatch and she must feed her little ones as well as go 
on with her house-building." 

"What does she give them to eat?" enquired the 
robin anxiously. 

" Oh, spiders — nice fat ones — and caterpillars, and 
those little green flies which spoil the plants " 

" I know, I know ! " interrupted the robin excitedly. 
" I heard Ladybird talking about them — she told the 
flowers how she and her relations watched for those 
little insects at the foot of this very tree I am perched 
on. What else does she give them ? " 

" Honey," said the wasp. 

" Honey ! " repeated the robin ; " I had no idea you 
made honey too ! " 

" No " said the wasp, rather hesitatingly, 

" we we " 

" Better tell the truth, Cousin," put in the hornet. 
11 They steal it ! " 

" That seems a pity," said the robin. 



WASP CASTLE 



89 



" Not at all," answered the wasp sharply. " The 
grubs must be fed," and he looked fiercely at the 
robin, who saw he must be careful, so he said : 

" Yes, of course," and hopped a little further 
away. 

The hornet, seeing that the wasp was getting cross 
again, said quickly : 

" But tell Robin that our family do not steal the 
wax they use for putting lids on the cells." 

" Oh, no, we make that ourselves," replied his cousin, 
" as well as varnish to keep the cells dry." 

The robin thought he might now venture to speak 
again, so he enquired rather timidly : 

" Did I hear you say just now that you were grubs 
before you were wasps ? " 

" Yes," he answered, " but we have no legs or wings. 
Our mother feeds us with honey and insects ; then 
we spin little silk cases which protect us whilst we 
are growing our legs and wings, and at last we come 
out of our cells — full-grown wasps." 

" Then do you help your mother ? " enquired the 
robin anxiously. 

" Yes," said the wasp ; " we fly about for food, and 
collect materials for our paper. As well as this we 
go on building the house, making it larger and 
larger, and we feed the grubs — indeed, we work very 
hard." 

" And what does the Queen-mother do ? " was the 
robin's next question. 



90 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" She only lays the eggs," was the reply, " whilst 
we young wasps go on building the house bigger and 
stronger and making larger cells for the queen- 
mother to put her eggs in." 

" But how do you make the house bigger ? " asked 
the robin. 

" Well, when we have finished one paper roof full 
of cells, we make another underneath it." 

" Underneath it ! " exclaimed the robin in as- 
tonishment. " I cannot understand how you do 
that ! " 

" I don't suppose you can," replied the wasp 
sharply, " and you never will, if you keep on inter- 
rupting." 

" I am so sorry ; I will shut my beak up tight and 
only keep my ears open," he replied. 

The wasp took no notice of this remark, but con- 
tinued : 

" We make little gluey pillars under the first roof 
to hold it up, and to fasten the next roof to. Do you 
understand ? " 

The robin nodded his head. 

"And so we go on," explained the wasp, "until 
we have made as many as we want — sometimes 
seventeen or eighteen." 

The beak was wide open now, and exclaiming : 

" Dear, dear me ! It is wonderful ! I shall tell 
Mrs. Robin about it. Oh, I must speak now," he 
went on, for he saw the hornet and wasp look at each 



WASP CASTLE 



9i 



other. " I am tired of keeping my beak shut, and 
besides, too, I so want to know what you do when 
the house is all finished, for it must take a long time 
to make it so large." 

11 By then it is drawing near winter, and when 
it gets cold and wet we die. Only the queen- 
mothers go and hide away and sleep until the next 



" Oh, what a pity ! " cried the robin ; " your beautiful 
home is of no use then ? " 

" None at all," said the wasp, " for the little crea- 
tures who made it are nearly all dead." 

" I do feel sorry," said the robin regretfully. 

" Now you go and have your raspberries, Cousin," 
called out the hornet, " whilst Robin and I have a 
little talk." 

4< Yes," put in the little bird, " but be sure and 
come back again, because I do so want to ask you 
more about your sword." 

The wasp felt better-tempered now, so he answered 
more pleasantly, that he would soon be back, and 
then off he flew to the raspberry-canes. 

When he had quite disappeared the robin hop- 
ped a little closer to the hornet and said in a 
whisper : 

" Wasp is rather sharp-tempered, is he not ? " 

" Well, I am afraid he is," agreed h*s cousin, " but 
he is all right if you leave him alone. Now what 
shall we talk about?" 



INSECT WONDERLAND 




The Wood-Wasp's nest. 



" Please tell me where 
you live, and if you make 

paper — and Oh, I 

forgot, I must not ask so 
many questions at once, 
I think I should like to 
know " 

"About the paper?" 
suggested the hornet. 
" We make that too, but 
it is much thicker and 
not the same colour as 
Wasp's, and we glue ours 
together before we roll it 
out." 

"And where do you live 
and build your nests?" 
enquired the robin, who 
was now thoroughly en- 
joying himself. 

" Very often in the 
hollow of an old tree," 
he answered. " By the 
by, I expect you know 
a little relation of ours, 
called Wood -Wasp, for 
she builds her nest under 
the bough of a tree." 

" Yes, yes, I know her," 



WASP CASTLE 93 

said the robin, "and there is another wasp who steals 
a lot of caterpillars — I have seen her take them — 
who is she ? " 

" Ah, that is Wall-Wasp," answered the hornet. 
11 She is a clever little insect and is one of the solitary 
wasps." 

" I don't know what that is," said the robin. 

" Well," explained the hornet, " the members of 
our family who live alone are called ' Solitary ' — that 
means lonely — and those who live with their families 
are called ' Social.' " 

" But why does Wall-Wasp take so many cater- 
pillars ? " persisted the robin, for this interested him 
much more than about "lonely" wasps. 

" Because she is such a careful mother," replied the 
hornet. " When she has laid her egg, she puts cater- 
pillars, flies, and spiders, all ready in the nest for her 
little ones to eat. Then she fastens the door with a 
lump of mud and goes away." 

" Does she never come back again ? " asked the 
robin in surprise. 

" No, never," said the hornet ; " but when the little 
wasp grows big he bites his way out through the 
door. There is lots more I could tell you, but I see 
Wasp coming back." 

" How funny he looks," whispered the robin, "just 
as if the back of him would fall off." 

" Do not let him hear you say that," continued the 
hornet, " for he is very proud of his nice figure and 



94 INSECT WONDERLAND 

small waist, and it shows too that he is a proper 
insect — the body in three parts, you know. We are 
also very proud of belonging to the Hook-wing 
order." 

At this moment the wasp joined them and 
asked : 

" What was that about the Hook-wing order? " 

" I was just saying," responded the hornet, " that 
we are very proud of belonging to that order." 

" I should just think we are," said the wasp, 
"for we Hook-wings are the chief of all the in- 
sects." 

" Who are ' we ' ? " asked the robin. 

" Bee, Ant, Saw-Fly, and ourselves," replied the 
wasp. " You will always know us, because our front 
wings are larger than the back ones ; they lie over 
them when we are still, but when we fly the under 
ones hook to the upper." 

" Oh, now I see why you are called Hook-wing 
insects. Do you hook anywhere else ? " 

" No, but we are made so that we can bend our 
bodies, or, in fact, nearly double them up, if we want 
to, in our work," said the wasp rather importantly, 
" and as well as that we can sting." 

" Sting!" cried the robin ; " that is your sword, then ! 
Just tell me what it is like and I will not bother you 
with any more questions." 

" There are two sharp points, like tiny saws," 
explained the wasp, " which we prick with, and a drop 



WASP CASTLE 95 

of poison runs into these points from a bag at the 
back. There is also a little case in which they are 
kept when we are not using them." 

The robin was much interested. 

" I suppose, then," he said, " that is how Wall-Wasp 
kills the caterpillars?" 

"She does not kill them," said the hornet, "she 
only stings them, so that they cannot get away." 

" Well, I only hope that I shall remember all that 
you and Hornet have told me, for I am sure that 
Mrs. Robin would like to know about you clever 
little paper-makers." 

"Yes, we make the best paper of all the insects," 
cried the wasp and hornet together, " never forget 
that ! " 

" Indeed I shall not," replied the robin. " Now I 
must go, for I see Mr. Gardener over there, and 
perhaps he has got a nice worm ready." 

"You might tell your friend from me," said the 
wasp, " that he need not grudge us a little of the fruit 
which we help to secure for him." 

The robin, who was just starting to fly away, 
paused for a moment. 

" How is that ? " he enquired, with a puzzled 
look. 

" When our queens come out in the spring they 
demolish numbers of those little green flies which 
would otherwise spoil the fruit trees — so we have a 
right to some." 



9 6 



INSECT WONDERLAND 



" I will be sure and tell him," said the robin ; then 
he added with a roguish look : " But when you take 
your share of the fruit do not forget to leave some for 
Robin Redbreast ! " and away he^flew. 










DRAGON-FLY POOL 









SUMMARY 

The water-lilies and forget-me-nots enter into con- 
versation with a flowering rush and ask what is the 
curious insect they see creeping up its stem. The rush 
says it does not know. So they watch until the insect, 
to their surprise, turns into a dragon-fly. They tell the 
latter how astonished they were when they saw this 
happen and ask him where he came from. He relates 
how he has lived for two years, whilst he was growing, 
at the bottom of their river. 



DRAGON-FLY POOL 

THE water-lilies smiled to themselves as they 
floated on the pool and watched the sun coax- 
ing their buds to open out. The forget-me-nots, too, 
were glad to be alive, and lifted their little star-like 
faces to be also kissed by the sun ; whilst close by, a 
tall flowering rush bowed her head this way and that, 
as the wind passed over it. 

Presently one of the little blue flowerets whispered 
to her nearest companion : 

" Look at that curious thing on the stem of the 
rush ! what is it ? " 

" I do not see anything,'' replied the floweret 
addressed. 

" There, there ! " cried the first speaker ; " high up 
the stem, a good way above the water. It looks like 
a bit of wood." 

" Oh, yes, I do see it now," answered her sister in 
an excited voice ; " but I cannot think what it can 
be." 

" Nor I, nor I !" came in a chorus from the other 
flowers, for it appeared that several of them had 
been watching this curious-looking object crawling 
out of the water, up the stem of the rush. 

99 



100 



INSECT WONDERLAND 



" The only thing is to ask someone bigger and 
wiser than ourselves," suggested the forget-me-not 
who had first spoken. 

" Yes, yes," cried the flowerets, " suppose we ask 
the water-lilies." 

So they gave their message to a little ripple in the 
water, who danced across with it to the water-lilies ; 




I cannot think what it can be. 



but they went on smiling and rocking themselves 
gently, and the wind brought back word that they 
did not know, but suggested that the forget-me-nots 
should ask the rush. 

This they did, but the rush replied that she did not 
know either. She had been wondering herself, she 
said, what was creeping slowly up her stem. 

Then they talked it over together and decided 



DRAGON-FLY POOL 



they would all watch 
carefully, and whoever 
saw anything first was 
to call out to the others. 

They had not long to 
wait, and it was the 
water-lilies who, after 
all, gave the signal. The 
largest one suddenly 
stopped rocking and 
cried out : 

" Look, look, flowerets ! 
It is breaking open ! " 

" So it is ! " they ex- 
claimed together. "And 
see ! something is com- 
ing out ! " 

They watched breath- 
lessly, and saw the 
strange - looking thing 
twisting itself this way 
and that, and one of the 
little blue blossoms 
whispered to her friend 
in an awestruck voice : 

" It is alive !" 

Then another cried : 

"Now it has got 




wings 



And see ! something- is 
coming- out ! " 



102 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Look ! " exclaimed a third, " it has a long body 
and legs — what can it be ? " 

But at this moment it stopped wriggling and twist- 
ing, and the flowerets whispered : 

" Whatever it is, it is dead now, for see, it is quite 
still," and they felt very disappointed. 

Suddenly, to their astonishment, it began to move 
again, and a few moments later only the case was 
left hanging upon the rush, whilst a little lower 
down the stem a great insect was seen to be cling- 
ing. 

The flowers scarcely breathed, but murmured to 
each other : 

" Is it asleep, or is it really dead now ? " 

As they spoke there was a little quiver of the 
wings — then these spread out in the sun, and as the 
flowers watched them they seemed to grow beautiful 
and gleam with lovely colours in the light. 

" See his big eyes ! " they whispered. " Still he 
does not look as if he were awake ! " 

But before long the big eyes began to grow bright, 
and then it was that one blue blossom — braver than 
the rest — called up to him : 

"If you are awake now, do you mind telling us 
who you are ? " 

The great eyes looked at her, and frightened at her 
own boldness, the blossom drooped her head. 

Then the insect said slowly : 

' ; I— am— a— Dragon-Fly ! " 



DRAGON-FLY POOL 



103 



" Oh ! " cried the rush, 
11 I know you now — you 
are one of those beauti- 
ful insects which look 
like a flower with wings." 

" I expect I shall look 
beautiful presently,'' he 
replied, " when the sun 
has dried me and 
brought out my fine 
colours; but I shall have 
to stay here for an hour 
or two until my wings 
are strong enough to fly 
with." 

" We shall like watch- 
ing you get your col- 
ours," came in a chorus 
from the flowers. 

Just then another dra- 
gon-fly flew past, with 
all his brilliant colours 
flashing in the sun. He 
hovered for a moment 
upon one of the rushes 
and said : 

" Well, and how do 
you like being up here 
instead of down below?" 




I— am— a — Dragon-Fly ! 



io4 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" I think I shall like it very much when my wings 
are ready to use," was the reply. 

" That you will ! " cried his friend, as he went on 
his way. 

" Where did he come from ? " whispered the 
flowerets in excitement to each other. " You ask 
him," they said to the rush. 

But the dragon-fly — who was getting stronger 
every moment — had heard, and answered : 

" Why, from the bottom of your pool to be sure — 
that is where I came from." 

" The bottom of our pool ! " they exclaimed. 
" Have you been there long ? " 

" Yes, for two years," he replied. 

" What were you doing down there all the time ? " 
asked the rush. 

" Growing," answered the dragon-fly. 

"But what did you grow out of?" enquired the 
flowers eagerly. 

" Out of an egg," said he. 

The flowers looked puzzled, then one of them 
remarked : 

" It is very strange — I never knew that eggs could 
be at the bottom of a pool. Mrs. Lark's little 
ones come out of an egg, but then she has a nice 
nest." 

"Ah," said the dragon-fly, "our mothers do not 
have nests ; they drop their eggs into the water and 
they sink right down to the bottom." 



DRAGON-FLY POOL 105 

" But I wonder they do not get lost," put in the 
rush. 

" No, they are quite safe," answered the dragon-fly, 
" unless of course a beetle or some other enemy 
eats them up; this does happen sometimes, but not 
as a rule." 

" And then ? " the rush enquired. 

" Why, then the little nymph " 

" Nymph ! " interrupted the flowers ; " but we do 
not know what that is. Please tell us." 

" Oh, it is only the name we are called by, from 
the time we come out of the egg until we get our 
wings." 

" Is it anything like a grub?" suddenly asked one 
of the water-lilies ; " because we know what that is." 

The dragon-fly looked round, and when he saw 
the beautiful floating flower smiling up at him, he 
answered with great respect : 

"It is only another name for a grub, and as you 
know what that is, we will call it so." 

" Thank you," said the water-lilies, and they settled 
themselves quietly down to hear what the dragon-fly 
had to tell. 

" I was going to say," he continued, " that the 
grubs soon come out." 

" What are they like ? " enquired the forget-me- 
nots. 

" They are a grey colour and have six legs and 
are always very hungry," was the answer. 



io6 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" I suppose they soon use their legs to run about 
with and look for food," said the rush. 

" Not at all," replied the dragon-fly. " They hide 
under a leaf or stone in the water and keep quite 
still until they see an insect or other little creature 
come along ; these they catch as they pass." 

" But how can they catch them without moving?" 
was the anxious enquiry. 

" They have a thing called a ' mask,' which is 
fastened by a little hinge to their lower jaw ; this 
they can shoot out suddenly, and with the sharp 
teeth on its edge, can seize the creatures as they 
swim along." 

" Unless the creatures get out of their way," in- 
terrupted the flowers. 

" Ha, ha ! " laughed the dragon-fly, " but they can 
reach much farther off than you think. Then the 
sharp teeth shut up, the mask folds back, and down 
the throat of the hungry grub goes the poor little 
victim they have caught." 

" And is that what you have been doing all this 
time?" asked the little blue blossoms in frightened 
tones. 

" Yes," replied their visitor ; " eating and moulting 
— we change our skins a great many times, you 
know — and as we moult, we get more and more 
hungry." 

"And do you get to look any different?" enquired 
the rush. 



DRAGON-FLY POOL 107 

" No, we do not change in our appearance so 
much as many insects do ; but would you like me to 
tell you what we are like just before we come up 
here?" asked the dragon-fly. 

" Please, please ! " cried his listeners. 

" Well, we have the case you saw me come out of 
and six legs, and on each foot there is a strong hook 
— now guess what these hooks are for." 

There was a silence for a moment, and the flowers 
shook their heads in bewilderment. 

Then the rush said quietly : 

" I think I know — you use them when you want 
to climb up a stem." 

" Quite right," said the dragon-fly. " They are so 
sharp that they will even pierce wood, and as well 
as this we can hold on firmly whilst we twist and 
turn to get out of our case." 

" But how do you know you want to come up 
here instead of staying on, down in the pool ? " 
enquired the water-lilies who had been listening 
attentively. 

" We begin to feel tired," replied the dragon-fly, 
" and are not as hungry as we used to be. Then, too, 
we cannot breathe so well in the water as we did 
before, and feel we want the air." 

" Ah ! " said the rush, " talking of breathing — I do 
so want to know how you can breathe at all under 
the water." 

" We have a long tube through our body, which 



i o8 INSECT WONDERLAND 

comes out in a point at our tail — this can be opened 
or closed at will," explained the dragon-fly. " When 
it is open we draw in water to breathe with, and 
when it is closed up in a point we can shoot the 
water out again, and at the same time it pushes 
us across the pool." 

" Well, that is really wonderful ! " said the rush 
thoughtfully. " But," she added politely, " I inter- 
rupted you, just when you were telling us about 
wanting to come up to the air." 

" Yes, I was saying we feel tired and long to fly 
instead of only being able to run about ; so we find 
something growing down in the water, something 

tall — like the graceful reed I am on " Here the 

dragon-fly gently fluttered his gauzy wings by way 
of salute and the rush bowed her head in acknow- 
ledgment. 

Then he continued : 

il We climb slowly up the stem until we are as high 
above the water as we want to be, and then — as you 
have seen — we come out of our case and begin our 
new life." 

" You are getting so beautiful ! " cried the flowers ; 
" your wings look so much larger and their lovely 
colours are shining in the sun ; and now your body 
is long and bright too ! " 

"Will your wings be strong enough to fly with?" 
enquired the water-lilies anxiously. 

" Oh, yes," replied the dragon-fly, " for although 



DRAGON-FLY POOL 109 

they look so thin, they are on a frame covered on 
each side, so you see they are really double ; whilst 
inside there are some little things called nerves 
which look like tiny tubes." 

" What are those for ? " enquired the flowers. 

" I will try and tell you," he answered. " Directly 
we come up here and get out of our case these tubes 
fill with air — otherwise we could not fly. A white 
fluid also goes through them, and as this fluid and the 
air fill the tubes, our wings stretch out and the little 
frame spreads with them. That is why we belong to 
the ' Neuroptera ' Order of insects," he added. 

The flowers looked at each other ; then one of the 
forget-me-nots said timidly : 

" We do not quite know what that word means ; 
please tell us." 

" It is to do with those little tubes I told you about, 
which are really nerves," said the dragon-fly, " and 
means that all our family are ' nerve-winged.' Others 
of us who are called ' Little Ladies,' as well as our 
relations the ' Lace-wings ' and the ' May-flies,' have 
the same kind of wings." 

" ' Lace-wings ! ' that is a pretty name," cried the 
flowers. " How could we know them if we saw 
them ? " 

" By their eyes," replied the dragon-fly, "for they 
have the most beautiful eyes of all." 

" But you have lovely eyes too," exclaimed the 
rush, "and so big !" 



no INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Perhaps you notice them more because there are 
so many of them," rejoined the dragon-fly. 

" Many of them ! " cried the flowers ; " we can only 
see two." 

" Ah, but each one is made up of hundreds 
and thousands of little ones, and as well as that 
we have three little eyes — see, they are across the 
front." 

The forget-me-nots raised their pretty blue heads 
as high as possible. 

" So they are ! " they exclaimed in surprise. " What 
can you want so many eyes for ? " 

" That we may see all ways at the same time," he 
answered. " It is convenient — especially when we are 
hungry ! " he continued with a little laugh. 

" But are you just as hungry when you are grown 
up ? " enquired the rush. 

" Oh, yes, more hungry, and we kill and eat every 
insect that comes in our way, catching them as they 
fly- along. Sometimes, too, we chase them and tear 
them to pieces — just for pleasure, you know," he 
added with glee. 

The flowers shivered when they heard this, and 
there was silence for a moment. Then one of the 
water-lilies said : 

"But what about your mask? You do not seem 
to have that now/' 

" Oh, no," he answered, " we do not need it when 
we come up here, we can fly so swiftly, whichever 



DRAGON-FLY POOL in 

way we like — either backwards or forwards. Oh, I 
am so looking forward to starting— my wings are 
nearly strong enough — I shall soon be off!" and he 
quivered his wings as if he were going to start. 

" Do not go yet ! " cried the flowerets ; " we shall 
be so sorry to lose you." 

" But even when I go, I shall often come back and 
see you," he answered, "for we dragon-flies love best 
to flit about in the sun, above the water beneath 
which we began our life." 

" We are glad ! " came in a chorus from the flowers, 
"for we shall like to see your bright colours flashing 
in the sunlight over our pool." 

" And I suppose we shall see your cousin Lace- 
wing, too ? " said the rush. 

" You might, but it is not so likely," replied the 
dragon-fly, " for my cousin does not care about the 
sunlight as I do, but likes the moonlight best. 
Neither is he fond of water." 

" But does he not grow up under the water too? " 
interrupted the rush. 

" No," he answered. " The mother Lace-wing puts 
her eggs into leaves, not in the water, and when the 
young ones come out they very soon spin a little silk 
ball in which they go to sleep for a time. They 
change their skins just as we do, only much more 
quickly, and then they come out in their lovely green 
suits and their great golden eyes. Now I am really 
off " 




Now I am really off " 



DRAGON-FLY POOL 



3 



And before the flowers had even time to say " good- 
bye," he had spread his new wings and risen into the 
air, his beautiful body gleaming in the sun, as with a 
whiz and a whir he disappeared across the pool. 

" How beautiful he is ! " sighed the forget-me-nots. 

11 Yes," replied the water-lilies, " beautiful — but 
cruel ! " 




ANT HILL MOUNT 



SUMMARY 

A snail, crawling slowly along, passes an ant hill 
where a great commotion seems going on. The snail 
stops and enquires the cause of the bustle, and the 
ants tell him that their home has been broken into and 
that they are hastening to put everything in order 
again. He asks what the hurry is, and the ants 
explain that it is interrupting their regular work. A 
slug comes up whilst they are talking and agrees with 
the snail that he does not believe in hurrying ; but 
both he and the snail feel rather ashamed when they 
learn what industrious little creatures the ants are. 









ANT HILL MOUNT 



C^OOD grade 
-J taking" a lei 



acious ! " cried the snail, who was 
leisurely morning walk ; " what can 
be the matter at Ant Hill Mount? I really must go 
and see ! " and he crossed over to where a number of 




"What can be the matter at Ant Hill Mount? " 



tiny creatures were hurrying hither and thither in 
great excitement. 

Each one carried a small white bundle in its jaws. 
The snail tried to speak to some of these, but they 

117 



u8 INSECT WONDERLAND 

paid no attention — only went hastily on. At last one 
passed without any bundle, so he determined to make 
him hear and called out : 

" Do please tell me what is the matter here ? " 

" Our house has been broken into ! " was the hurried 
reply. 

" But why do you " began the snail slowly. 

" I am busy now," interrupted the ant, " but if 
you wait where you are, I will come back again as 
soon as I can and tell you about it." Then off he 
went. 

The snail was quite content to stay where he was. 
He made it a rule never to hurry, and it seemed to 
him very silly that the ants were in such a bustle. 

" For," said he to himself, " they cannot have any- 
thing important to do, but are just making a fuss 
about nothing. Still, I may as well find out what all 
this commotion is about, as I have nothing particular 
to do this morning." 

So he waited patiently until he saw that the ants, 
who were carrying the bundles, had nearly all dis- 
appeared. A number of others were still left, and 
these seemed to be running in and out of the broken 
hill, although he could not quite make out what they 
were doing. 

At last he espied his special friend, who cried out 
as he came hurrying back : 

" I am sorry I could not come sooner, Mr. Snail, 
but there was so much to be done." 



ANT HILL MOUNT 119 

" What was it you were doing ? " enquired the 
snail. 

11 Finding a safe place ; for, as I told you, our home 
was broken into and has to be mended." 

"Ah!" said the snail importantly, "you should be 
like me and carry your house upon your back, then 
there would be no need for this rushing and tearing 
about ; but you would be able to move in a slow and 
dignified manner, as I do." 

" Excuse me," replied the ant, with some temper, 
" but I must remind you that we are considered the 
most industrious of all insects " 

" Oh ! an insect are you ? " interrupted the snail. 

" Yes — a proper insect too," replied the ant, "divided 
into three parts and with six legs ; and what is more," 
he added with pride, " we are members of the Hook- 
wing Order. Those who belong to that Order are 
the chief of all the insects." 

" Indeed ! " answered the snail indifferently ; " none 
of that interests me in the least. I do not even know 
what Order I belong to, but I am quite happy as 
I am." 

" It is a good thing to be contented," said the ant ; 
" and you can be busy too and yet happy." 

" Well, I should not be happy if I had to be in 
such a hurry," persisted the snail. 

" But we are not always in a hurry like that. We 
were frightened and had to get the baby ants into a 
safe place." 



120 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Baby ants ! " repeated the snail ; " but I did not 
see any baby ants, only grown-up ones like yourself." 

" Did you not notice the little white bundles, then, 
that so many of them were carrying?" enquired the 
ant in surprise. 

" Of course I saw those," he said, " but nothing 
that looked like baby ants. Perhaps I am getting 
blind, like Mr. Worm." 

" Those little bundles are baby ants," was the reply, 
"only they are wrapped up in a fine net case, in 
which they stay until they have grown their legs and 
wings." 

" Now that does interest me," responded the snail, 
"and I should like to hear more about it. Tell me 
now, why were some of the bundles large and others 
small?" 

" Because the large ones hold queens and drones, 
the smaller ones workers, and the tiniest, small 
workers." 

" And pray what are you ? " enquired the snail ; 
" a queen or a drone ? " 

" Neither ! " said the ant in a shocked voice. " I 
am a big worker." 

" How was I to know that ? " asked the snail in an 
offended tone. " Instead of looking so shocked you 
had better say what is the difference, for I always 
thought myself that an ant was just an ant, and 
nothing more." 

" Well, of course an ant is an ant, but some of us 



ANT HILL MOUNT 121 

are much more important than others. First there 
are the queens — they have wings and stings — then 
there are the drones — who have wings, but no stings, 
and then " 

" Stop, stop ! " interrupted the snail. " I can under- 
stand a queen-ant, but what is the one you call a 
drone ?" 

" Oh, he is a big fellow," replied the ant, " but he is 
lazy and does not work." 

" Ah ! " laughed the snail, " he would just suit me ; 
never in a hurry, I expect ! " 

The ant took no notice of this remark, but con- 
tinued : u Then there are the workers." 

" And you are a worker, I suppose," said the snail. 

" Yes," replied the ant, " but only one of them," he 
added modestly. " I am really a soldier, and have 
to be outside on duty ; that is why I am able to talk 
to you." 

11 Dear me ! " responded the snail ; " you do not 
mean to say that there is more than one kind of 
worker ? " 

" Oh, indeed, there are several kinds ! " was the 
reply. " There are nurses and slaves as well as 
soldiers ; and all have their own work." 

" But what can so many of you find to do ? " asked 
the snail in surprise. 

" I will try and tell you," said the ant. Then he 
added suddenly : " Please wait a moment, for I think 
I am wanted." Off he ran, and the snail saw him 



122 INSECT WONDERLAND 

standing between another ant like himself— only 
smaller — and two little insects who were going 
towards the hill. These latter he apparently chased 
for some distance. Then he came back to the snail. 

" What were you doing ? " enquired the latter. 

" My duty," he replied. " Those were enemies who 
would have tried to get in at our gate " 

" Your gate ! " exclaimed the snail. " I do not see 
one." 

" Oh, the door of our house is called the gate," he 
explained. " It is very often left open, but we can 
shut it up, if we wish, with a stone. Sometimes we 
have more than one gate to our homes." 

" I see," said the snail ; " the enemies were going in, 
so you chased them away." 

" Just so," said he. " But that is only one of our 
duties. The soldiers of some hills have to go and 
fight to get slaves. One family of the Wood-Ants 
does this ; the ones who live over there, at the foot of 
Old Oak Tree," and he waved his feelers as he spoke, 
in the direction of the tree. 

" Ah, yes," said the snail; " slaves — I should like to 
know how you get these and what they are wanted 
for." 

" The slaves are a smaller and weaker kind. The 
soldiers of one hill march to another and fight 
with the ants there. Then they seize the cases con- 
taining the babies and carry these back to their own 
hill. When the baby ants come out, they are 



ANT HILL MOUNT 123 

brought up with our own young ones, and when they 
are big enough they have to work for their masters." 

" What kind of work ? " enquired the snail. 

" Oh, some have to nurse and feed the babies, and 
others have to build and repair the nest. A number 
have to wait on their owners — clean them, and even 
carry them if they want to travel about." 

" That sounds lazy," put in the snail. 

l< It is that they get so used to being waited on," 
replied the ant, " that they really cannot do anything 
for themselves." 

" You can call it what you like," replied the snail, 
11 I call it nothing but laziness. Well, I have heard 
enough of the slaves and soldiers ; now tell me about 
your queen." 

" Queens, Mr. Snail, you mean," rejoined the ant 
politely. " We have many queens ; they are the 
mothers, too, and lay the eggs, and sometimes they 
work. Quite different from Beehive Palace — there is 
only one queen there, and she does not work." 

" I want to hear about your queens, not the one at 
Beehive Palace," replied the snail severely. 

The ant — big soldier though he was — felt rather 
small. But just at this moment a slug came crawling 
past, and the snail, seeing him, forgot his anger and 
called out : 

" Ah ! here is a relation of mine who will agree 
with me, I know, as to what a mistake it is to 
hurry." 



i2 4 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" His house is not on his back," whispered the ant ; 
" has he lost it ? " 

" No," was the reply ; " Slug does not carry his 
house on his back — it is the only silly thing about 
him ; except for this, he is dignified and moves slowly, 
as I do." 

By this time the slug had joined them, and the 
snail began telling him all about the ants and the 
commotion they had been in. The relatives agreed 
as to the folly of being in such a bustle. 

At last the ant managed to get in a word, and 
said : 

" But, Sirs, you make a mistake if you think we are 
always in such a hurry as you found us just now. It 
is not so at all ; I assure you when we move house 
we do it most quietly and in order, but we dislike 
having our regular work upset. Then, too, when we 
go to war we march all in line ; and some of our rela- 
tions have big armies, I can tell you." 

" Move house ! Go to war ! What is he talking 
about ? " asked the slug in bewilderment. 

" He is a soldier ant, so of course he goes to war," 
answered the snail in a superior way. " I dare say he 
will not mind telling you what his duties are." 

" Not at all," was the reply. " We have, for one 
thing, to watch and see that no danger comes near 
our hill. Then, too, if any of the workers are in 
trouble they come to us soldiers " — he looked very 
important as he said this. " You saw I was needed 



ANT HILL MOUNT T25 

just now, did you not ? " he enquired, turning towards 
the snail. 

" Yes, yes," answered he, in an irritable voice ; 
" but it is fighting we want to hear more about." 

" Well, then," he replied, " I might tell you of some 
relations of ours called ' Army- Ants.' They do not 
live here, but far away over the sea. They have very 
large armies, and when they march they drive every 
creature before them ; but it is only because they go 
in line and obey their commanders that they can do 
this." 

" Dear me, Snail," said the slug, " this is very 
interesting; I am really glad I happened to come 
this way to-day. But did I not hear you saying 
something about ' queens ' as I came up ? " 

" Yes," replied the ant ; " Mr. Snail was asking 
about our queen, and I was just explaining that we 
had " 

" Never mind what you were explaining," inter- 
rupted the snail sharply, "but just tell us about 
your queens — that is if there is anything worth 
hearing." 

The slug noticed that the ant looked rather angry 
and fierce at being spoken to in such a rude manner, 
so coming up closer, he said : 

" If Soldier can spare time from his duties to talk 
to us a little longer we should like to hear about that, 
and anything else he can tell us." 

The ant felt pleased at this nice speech, and the 






126 



INSECT WONDERLAND 




Then she takes off her 
vving-s " 



slug was relieved to 
see that he looked less 
fierce, as he answered 
politely : 

" With pleasure, Mr. 
Slug. Perhaps you 
would like to know 
how a queen -ant be- 
gins to build the 
home?" 

" Yes, we should like 
to know about that," 
responded the slug. 

" Well, first she finds 
a nice place for the 
hill — then she takes off 
her wings " 

"Takes off her 
wings ! " repeated the 
visitors in astonish- 
ment. 

(i Yes," said the ant. 
" You see, she does not 
want to fly any more, 
and they would be in 
the way while she 
worked." 

" I can understand 
they would be in the 



ANT HILL MOUNT 127 

way," said the snail, " but I cannot think how she 
takes them off." 

" Nor I," cried the slug. 

" It is quite easy — she just unhooks them," was the 
reply. 

" Ah, yes — Hook-wing ! " murmured the snail. 
"You said a little while ago that you belonged to 
that Order, and I remember too when I was under 
the apple - tree the other morning, hearing Wasp 
telling that pert fellow — Robin Redbreast — all about 
the Hook-wing Order." 

" Did you ? " responded the ant. " You see, Wasp 
and Bee — like ourselves — are Hook-wings, and as 
well as this we all belong to the same family." 

" Yes," said the snail, " I recollect that Wasp was 
telling Robin some great long name he had — now let 
me think — what was it ? " and he looked thoughtful 
for a moment. 

"' Hymenoptera/" put in the ant. 

" Yes, yes, that was it," he replied. " I remember 
now." 

" Then I need not tell you about this," said 
the ant. 

" But — but, Soldier," put in the slug, " I was 
not under the apple-tree, so did not hear about it." 

" Well, as I want to tell you about our queens," 
replied the ant, " perhaps you could ask your friend, 
Robin Redbreast, about this." 

" Friend indeed ! " rejoined the snail ; " no bird is a 



128 INSECT WONDERLAND 

friend of ours, for some of them have a cruel habit of 
knocking us against a stone to break our shell, and 
then they eat us. We should not think of talking 
to Robin Redbreast. I will tell Slug, myself, as 
we go home what I heard under the apple-tree, so 
please go on about the queens and how they build 
the house." 

"When the queen-ant has found a nice place," 
said the soldier, " she digs up the earth with her front 
feet and throws it back with her hind ones." 

" But — stop a moment ! " interrupted the snail, 
" for that is how Wasp said his queen began her 
nest, and he told also how she made paper." 

" Just so," replied the ant. " She digs in the same 
way as the queen-wasp, and makes paper too, but 
not quite such a good kind as hers." 

" You can miss out about that, then," said the 
snail, " as I heard all about it the other morning, and 
if Mrs. Ant makes the same kind of nest as 
Mrs. Wasp, you need not tell that either. It is 
something neiv I want to hear," he added crossly. 

Ci But our home is not built in at all the same way 
as Wasp's," replied the ant. " We have halls and 
rooms and nurseries, and " 

" I am getting quite confused ! " exclaimed the 
poor slug dejectedly, " and cannot understand how 
the queen-ant can do that all alone." 

" She does not do it alone," rejoined the soldier, 
" the workers help her." 



ANT HILL MOUNT 129 

" Dear, dear ! But you never said you were there ! " 
cried the snail. "You distinctly told us that the 
queen-ant unhooked her wings and began to build 
the house alone." 

" Quite right," explained the ant, " I was only 
getting on a little too fast. The queen-ant does 
begin building alone, and goes on until enough work- 
ants are grown up to do the work instead of herself. 
She first makes a hall — then a room in which she 
puts some eggs, and out of these soon come baby 
ants." 

" Who grow up and help the queen-mother, I 
suppose ?" put in the slug enquiringly. 

" Exactly," replied the ant. 

" And what does the queen do when she has plenty 
of workers ? " enquired the snail. 

" Then she lays the eggs, and some of the workers 
go on building the hill and making more halls and 
rooms and nurseries, whilst others look after the 
babies — clean and feed them " 

" Surely you are talking nonsense now," said the 
snail, " for how can they clean and feed them inside 
those white bundles ? " 

" Ah, but that is before they spin themselves round 
in the little case I told you about. It is when they 
first come out of the egg, and are like small white 
worms, that they have to be washed and fed." 

" But," said the slug slowly, " what I should like to 
know is how they get out of it." 
9 



130 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" When they are ready to come out, the nurses help 
them to get free of their cases," replied the ant. 

" Then I suppose they can come outside the hill 
whenever they want to," said the snail. 

" Yes, if they are work-ants," was the reply. 
" Queen-ants are not allowed to go out again, and if 
one tries to do so, a worker picks her up and carries 
her back." 

' : How can you do with so many queens in your 
hill ? " asked the snail. " I should have thought 
myself that one was quite enough." 

" Oh, no, we can have several in a large nest, but if 
there are found to be too many young queens in one 
hill, their wings are unhooked and they are turned 
into workers.'' 

" Well, that seems a very strange way of treating a 
queen" cried the slug and snail together. 

" Strange or not," replied the ant, " we find it the 
best way, and it saves having a fight as they do at 
Beehive Palace " 

" I have told you already that I do not want to 
hear about Beehive Palace now," interrupted the 
snail ; " although no doubt they know what they are 
about there." 

" No doubt," replied the soldier a little haughtily ; 
" but Ant Hill Mount and Beehive Palace have their 
own rules, you know." 

The slug thought there was danger again, so, in 
order to turn the conversation, said quietly : 



ANT HILL MOUNT 131 

" I think I heard you say just now, Soldier, that 
the Wood-Ants have the slave-making habit. Is 
there anything else special about them, may I 
ask ? " 

" Oh, yes," was the reply ; " to begin with, they 
build such very wonderful nests, with halls, galleries, 
store-rooms and nurseries all opening out of one 
another. There is as much of their nest underneath 
the ground as there is above, and the outside part of 
the hill is very high." 

" Indeed!" replied the slug. " Your hill looks high, 
too." 

" Yes," he answered, " that is why it is called Ant 
Hill Mount ; but it is not as high as Wood-ants', 
though." 

" To which tribe do you belong ? " enquired the 
snail. 

"To the Hill-Ants," said he. 

" Oh, I see," rejoined the snail, " there are two 
tribes of you, then — Hill- Ants and Wood- Ants." 

The soldier laughed heartily, and said : 

" Two tribes indeed ! Why, there are more than I 
know how to count even. I could not possibly tell 
you about them all — there are so many." 

" Instead of wasting the time laughing," retorted 
the snail rather haughtily, " you might at any rate tell 
us about some of them." 

" So I might," said the ant good-humouredly. 
" There are our relations Garden-Ants for instance ; 



132 INSECT WONDERLAND 

their homes are not so high on the outside as ours, 
but they live more underground than we do." 

"What are they like?" enquired the slug. 

" Some part of that family are black," explained 
their relative, " and have one knob joining the front 
part of their body to the back — these do not sting ; 
the others are red and have two knobs — they can 
sting." 

" I understand about stings," interrupted the 
snail. 

"Do you ?" exclaimed the slug in surprise. " How 
can you know ? " 

" I heard Wasp explaining all that — he called them 
' swords ' — so you can miss it out, Soldier." 

"But — but — " cried the slug, "do let him just tell 
me how the black ones manage without a sting." 

" They have strong jaws with which they bite, and 
also an acid they can squirt out of their bodies into 
the face of their enemies," replied the ant. 

" I am glad they have something, in place of a 
sword," said the slug. 

" Garden-Ants are a little different from us in some- 
thing else," continued the soldier, " they keep some of 
their honey-cows " 

" Honey-cows ! " exclaimed the slug — and even the 
leisurely snail repeated in a surprised voice : " Honey- 
cows ! What are they ? " 

" The little insects from which we get our honey- 
dew." 



ANT HILL MOUNT 133 

" Relations of yours too, I suppose," said the snail 
in an off-hand way. 

" Oh, no, not relations," cried the ant. " They 
belong to an Order called ' Hemiptera.' " 

" That tells us nothing," said the snail sarcastically. 

" It means ' half-winged ' — for they have wings of 
two kinds. The front pair are horny — that is, rather 
hard like your shell, Mr. Snail — and the back pair are 
gauzy-looking." 

" Still, I cannot see why they are called ' honey- 
cows,' " rejoined the snail. 

" I will try and tell you," replied the ant. " These 
little insects suck the juices out of plants and make 
honey in their bodies, like Bee, but instead of storing 
it up as he does, they drop the honeydew on the 
leaves. This we eat. The little honey-cows go on 
sucking and sucking until they get quite full ; then 
we stroke them with our feelers — these, you know " — 
and he waved his own to show what he meant — 
" and the juice comes out of two tiny horns at the 
end of their body. We take this up, put it in our 
mouth and run off home." 

" And what do you do with it ? " enquired the 
listeners anxiously. 

" Oh, the nurses give it to the babies, and the 
workers to the queens and the rest of us," was the 
reply. 

" But what were you going to tell us about Garden- 
Ants and their honey-cows ? " asked the snail. 



134 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" That they not only keep theirs on daisies near 
their nests, but hide some underground, where they 
feed them on the roots of plants." 

" Do you keep any at Ant Hill Mount ? " enquired 
the slug. 

" No," was the reply. " Our workers are very good 
climbers ; they can always run fast up the plants on 
which the honey-cows are feeding and get a supply of 
honeydew. Of course, if any other nest interferes 
with our cows we have to go and fight them, and 
whichever wins the battle gets the cows." 

" Do you fight much, Soldier ? " asked the slug. 

" Not unless there is anything to fight about," he 
replied. " Ants make it a rule to help each other, for 
we are what is called ' Social insects,' that is " 

" Live in families — I know," put in the snail ; " so 
you need not waste time explaining. Are there any 
other relations we ought to hear about ? " 

" Oh, I could tell you of numbers if I had only 
time — for there are the Parasol-Ants, and others who 
are farmers, whilst some are carpenters ; but I must 
tell you some other day — if you would like to hear. 
I cannot stay now, for I see the workers are coming 
back with the bundles." 

" So they are ! " exclaimed the visitors. " What 
does that mean ? " 

Thct 1he hill is mended and ready to come back 
to," replied the ant ; " so I must be off." 

"What are you doing now?" suddenly asked the 



ANT HILL MOUNT 



135 



snail, for their soldier 
friend was drawing his 
front foot through his 
mouth. 

" I am just going to 
make myself clean and 
tidy," he replied. " I 
feel rather dusty after 
our upset this morn- 
ing"; and as he spoke 
he stroked his body 
down with the comb on 
his front foot. " You 
see, 1 have brushes on 
my other feet," he con- 
tinued, "for we are 
very particular about 
making ourselves clean 
and neat after our 
work, and also after 
eating," and he brushed 
and combed himself 
vigorously as he spoke. 

" Well, I am glad if you 
really like to be so en- 
ergetic," said the snail, 
" as long as you do not 
ask me to hurry, for it 
never agrees with me." 




The Parasol-Ants. 



136 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" It is clear that it does with us, for," said : 

Soldier Ant : We ants are busy — 

SNAIL and SLUG (together) : As busy can be ! 

Soldier Ant : Yet we are happy — 

SNAIL and SLUG (together) : So we see, we see ! 

Soldier Ant : Each has his own work, 

Snail and SLUG (together): Which he does with 

glee ! 
Soldier Ant : The best that he can. 
Snail {aside to SLUG) : (Conceited is he !) 

SOLDIER Ant : Yet I tell you, friends — 
Slug {in a whisper to Snail) : (Why, that's you 

and me ! ) 
Soldier Ant : All should be busy — 
Snail and Slug (together): So you think, we see ! 
Soldier Ant : We know it is true — 
SNAIL and SLUG (together) : Well, we disagree ! 

" But they are wanting me," cried the ant, " I must 
go at once ! " 

And then — like the well-trained little soldier he 
was — he saluted his visitors politely and ran off in 
haste to Ant Hill Mount. 

The snail and slug went leisurely on their home- 
ward way, and as they crept along talking of all 
they had heard, they admitted to each other that, 
although they did not want to hurry themselves, 
they admired the ants for their industry and wisdom. 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 






SUMMARY 

A field-mouse talks with a grasshopper and enquires 
how he makes his chirping noise. She also asks if he 
is any connection of the field crickets. He tells her of 
his relationship to the latter and also to a locust, ex- 
plaining that he is, in fact, a small locust himself. 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 

^vEAR me, how you made me jump ! " 

±-S " I usually do make people jump," laughed 
the grasshopper. 

" Well, I am not ' people,' I am Mrs. Mouse — 
Mrs. Field-Mouse — and I just came out for a little 
air and a look round — and — and — dear, dear, you 
quite bewilder me," she continued, for the grass- 
hopper had jumped over her head whilst she was 
talking. 

" I am so sorry," he said, " but you must really 
forgive me, for I get the fidgets if I try to stand 
still." 

" Fidgets indeed ! I would soon teach you to 
stand still if you belonged to me," said Mrs. Mouse 
severely, for she felt very much upset. 

" Perhaps if I had been trained to stand still when 
I was younger, it might have made a difference,' 
said the little grasshopper meekly. Then he added 
as politely as he could : " Do you live in this lane, 
Ma'am ? " 

" No," replied the mouse, who began to feel less 
angry when the grasshopper spoke so nicely, " I live 
in the field on the other side of the hedge." 

i39 



140 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Ah, I expect, then, that is the reason why we have 
never met before," he answered. " To tell you the 
truth," he continued, "you rather startled me too — 
you came from under the hedge so quietly." 

" Did I ? " said the mouse : " well, I am sorry. 
I tell you what I will do next time ; I will give 
a little squeak — so," and she made a tiny sound that 
could scarcely be heard. 

" A capital idea ! " exclaimed the grasshopper. 
" And when I am coming, I will do so — " and he 
gave a loud chirp right into Mrs. Mouse's ear. 

She was so startled that she nearly exclaimed 
again, but stopped herself just in time, and said 
instead : 

" Why, you are a kind of cricket after all, I do 
believe." 

" Oh, no," said the grasshopper, " I am not a cricket, 
although I am closely related to them." 

" Then what are you ? " asked the mouse. 

" I am a grasshopper," he replied. 

" But you make a chirping noise exactly like my 
friend Field-Cricket," persisted the mouse. 

" Please excuse my contradicting you, Ma'am," 
said the grasshopper, for he felt rather afraid of 
rousing the mouse's temper again, "but it is not 
exactly the same, for I make my chirp with my hind 
leg " 

" Now, my dear boy," interrupted the mouse, 
" I am a good deal older than you are, so you can 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 141 

hardly expect me to believe that you chirp with your 
hind leg — it is simply ridiculous." 

" But indeed, Ma'am/' stammered out the grass- 
hopper, " it is true. If you would not mind stepping 
into that patch of moonlight in the middle of the 
lane I will show you how I do it." 

Rather unwillingly Mrs. Mouse ran silently along 
the lane, keeping close to the hedge, until she 
reached the spot where the moonlight fell. The 
grasshopper, glad of the excuse, had time to take 
several good jumps backwards and forwards, and 
yet arrive upon the patch of moonlight as soon 
as the mouse. 

" Now, Ma'am," he said respectfully, " if you will 
kindly look at my hind leg " 

" Which one?" enquired the mouse. 

" Either," was the reply. " Look on the inside of 
the one nearest you." 

" Well, I am looking," said the mouse. 

" You will see a kind of little rough edge with 
teeth," explained the grasshopper. 

" Yes, I see," she answered. 

" Now I am going to rub that rough edge which is 
on my hind leg — you do see it is my hind leg, do 
you not, Ma'am ? " 

" Of course I see it is your hind leg," said the 
mouse impatiently; "do go on, please — you are 
going to rub that rough edge against — what ? " 

" Against my wing, in which I have a little drum," 



142 



INSECT WONDERLAND 



said the grasshopper, " and every time I move my 
wing it strikes my drum. Now listen ! " 

The mouse drew back a little, remembering her 
late experience, and just as she did so, the grass- 
hopper made a loud chirp, but to her astonish- 
ment he did not jump, but stood quite still, fixing 
himself firmly by his front feet and pressing his body 
downwards. 




Now listen ! " said the grasshopper. 



" You do see that I was telling you the truth, do 
you not ? " asked the grasshopper anxiously. 

"Yes, yes," said Mrs. Mouse, rather reluctantly. 
n I see it is true. I suppose that is really how Field- 
Cricket makes his chirp too," she added, in an off- 
hand way. 

" I think he makes it by rubbing his wings to- 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 143 

gether," said the grasshopper, " but I am not quite 
sure." 

" Well, I must say that seems more sensible than 
chirping with your hind leg," said the mouse. 

" I have a cousin, a great big fellow, ever so much 
bigger than I am," continued the grasshopper, taking 
no notice of the mouse's last remark ; " he has a rough 
edge just under his left front wing, and this he rubs 
against the edge of the other wing, to make his 
chirp. But you will never guess where his ear is ! " 

" On his head, I suppose ; the only proper place 
for ears," replied the mouse tartly. 

" No, no — quite wrong. Guess again, Ma'am." 

The mouse did not want to guess, because she could 
not think of any other place, so she said : 

" Ssh ! ssh ! I thought I heard a sound ! Do you 
know I think we are very foolish to stay in the moon- 
light." Then she added in a whisper : 

" I am dreadfully afraid that Mr. White Owl 
might catch sight of me ; you know he only lives 
just across our field in ' Old Church Tower.'" 

" Then we had better get quickly under the hedge," 
said the grasshopper, and he began to leap ofT. 

Mrs. Mouse followed more slowly and cautiously, 
peeping round everywhere with her bright eyes as 
she ran along. She hoped that the grasshopper 
would have forgotten about the guessing, but not 
a bit of it, for as soon as they had got safely under 
the hedge, he said : 



H4 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Now guess where my cousin's ear is." 

" I can't," said the mouse. " I must give it up." 

" You do give up easily," said the grasshopper. 
" Well, I suppose I must tell you. It is — you never 
could have guessed — on his front leg under his knee ! 
There ! " he exclaimed triumphantly, " what do you 
think of that?" 

" I think that you are very funnily made 
animals " 

" Insects, please, Ma'am, insects ! " cried the grass- 
hopper. 

"Insects!" repeated the mouse, "you are surely 
mistaken. You will be telling me next that Field- 
Cricket is an insect." 

" So he is ! " exclaimed the grasshopper, " and so is 
House-Cricket and my great big Cousin Grasshopper 
and Earwig and Cockroach, and what's more, we have 
got a family name just as much as ' Orange-tip.' I 
was hiding in the grass and heard her telling the 
flowers her family name." 

He had got so excited by this time that he had to 
stop and take breath, and Mrs. Mouse was able to 
get in a word. 

" And what is this family name that you are so 
proud of?" she asked. 

" Orthoptera, Ma'am, Orthoptera ! " he re- 
plied. 

" Dear me, your name seems as long as your legs," 
said the mouse. 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 145 

11 We don't use it every day — only just for best ; 
but we are obliged to have it because it shows that 
we are 'straight-winged' insects. There are six 
families of us." 

At this moment a shrill chirp was heard, and the 
mouse exclaimed : 

" Ah, there is my friend Field-Cricket — let us call 
him to come and talk with us." 

So the grasshopper gave several chirps to show the 
cricket where they were, and a moment later he 
hopped up to them. 

" Good evening/' he said cheerily. " What are you 
two doing here ? " 

" Having a chat," said Mrs. Mouse. " I have been 
hearing that you are related to Grasshopper ; I had 
no idea that you were." 

" Oh, yes," he replied, " we are relatives, and we are 
something alike in our jumping and chirping, are 
we not ? " 

" But I am not such a timid fellow as you are, only 
coming out at night," put in the grasshopper. 

" No, there's certainly nothing timid about you" 
said the mouse ; " but when I come to think of it, 
we never do see Cricket, except at night. How is 
that ? " she asked, turning to him. 

" Well, I do not really care for being out much in 

the day," he said, " and night is my busiest time ; I 

come up then to get my food." 

"But what do you do all day?" asked the mouse. 
10 



146 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" I often hear you singing, although I cannot see 
you." 

" I am always in the ground," he replied, " for that 
is where my young ones stay all through the winter, 
until they get their wings." 

" Then I suppose you are singing to them," said 
the mouse. 

" Yes," answered the cricket ; " and I sing too 
because I am so happy." 

" What do you sing about, old fellow ? " asked the 
grasshopper. 

" Oh, about lots of things," said the cricket ; " about 
being contented, for one thing." 

" Do chirp us a little song," begged the mouse and 
grasshopper together. 

At first the cricket said he really could not, he felt 

so shy. But at last, when they promised not to look 

at him, he chirped a sweet little song, which he said 

was called 

CONTENTMENT 

"Chirp ! Chirp ! Chirp ! That is my lay, 
For I am happy as the day : 
Not a single care have I — 
Pray, would you learn the reason why ? 
It is because I sing alway, 
Chirp ! Chirp ! Chirp ! the livelong day. 

" Chirp ! Chirp ! Chirp ! That is my song : 
If things go right or things go wrong 
Just as blithe and gay am I — 
Can you not guess the reason why ? 
It is that I'm content, you know, 
Chirp ! Chirp ! Chirping, as I go." 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 147 

" Thank you," said the mouse, when he had finished, 
" that is really very nice. Does Mrs. Cricket sing the 
same songs as you ? " 

" Oh, no," he replied, " she never sings ; you see, 
she is so busy." 

u Yes, yes," answered the mouse, " of course she is, 
especially when the young .crickets come out of the 
eggs. By the by, what are your little ones like ? " 

" They look very much like us grown-up ones," he 
answered, " except that they have no wings at first." 

The grasshopper, who had been very good and 
quiet up till now, began to feel that it was his turn to 
talk, so he hopped a little nearer to the mouse, saying 
as he did so : 

" Perhaps, Ma'am, you would like to hear how we 
grasshoppers look when we are little. Shall I tell 
you from the beginning ? " 

" Please do," said the mouse, " but you need not 
sit so close, it — it makes me so hot." 

She really thought he might forget and jump over 
her head again. 

" Well," he began, " our mothers put their eggs 
in a hole in the ground, then she covers them up 
nicely." 

" What does she do that for ? " enquired the mouse. 

" To keep them safe," answered the grasshopper. 
" You see, they are going to stay there all the 
winter." 

" Are they really ? " exclaimed the mouse in sur- 



148 INSECT WONDERLAND 

prise. " Then when do the little ones come out of 
the egg?" 

" Not until the spring," replied the grasshopper. 

" And have they got wings ? " enquired the mouse. 

" No," answered the grasshopper. " We do not 
have wings at first ; we have to grow them." 

"Well, it is no use just saying that you 'grow 
them,'" interrupted the mouse sharply. " I want to 
know how you do it." 

" We change our skins several times," explained 
the grasshopper. 

" Change your skins ! " cried the mouse. " I never 
heard of such a thing. Is it difficult?" 

" Oh, no ; the old skin slips off and there is another 
underneath ; and when the last skin slips off we have 
our grown-up coats on and wings." 

" And our chirps ! " put in Field-Cricket with a 
laugh. 

" Ah, yes, your chirps ! " repeated the mouse. " By 
the by," she continued, turning to the field-cricket, 
" I meant to ask if you make your chirping in the 
same manner as the grasshopper does." 

" Something in the same way, but not quite," he 
answered. " We have a rough edge underneath our 
left wing-cover, and this edge we draw across our 
right wing-cover, which is where our little drum is ; 
that is how we make our music." 

" Now shall I go on telling you some more ? " 
asked the grasshopper anxiously. 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 149 

" Yes, please," said the mouse. " I should like to 
know what you eat." 

" Well, we like vegetable food best," said the grass- 
hopper ; " and we have some little teeth down inside 
our body for chewing up the leaves and things 
we eat." 

" We like the same kind of food too," joined in the 
cricket, " and we eat little insects as well ; we sit at 
the doors of our houses to catch these." 

" I am afraid you are both very greedy," said the 
mouse. 

" Nothing like our relation the locust," cried out 
the grasshopper. 

" No indeed ; he is a regular thief." 

"A thief!" exclaimed Mrs. Mouse. "We shall 
have to be careful. Is— is he likely to come this way 
to-night?" she asked, looking nervously round. 

" Oh, no," said the grasshopper. " Luckily he does 
not live here." 

Mrs. Mouse gave a sigh of relief. " What does he 
steal? " she asked. 

" Every green thing that comes in his way," was 
the reply, " and even the bark off the trees. Numbers 
and numbers of them fly together, until sometimes 
they almost hide the sun." 

" Dear me, dear me ! " exclaimed the mouse, " how 
terrible." 

" If a lot of my locust cousins were to come here 
to-night," continued the grasshopper, " and were to 



I so 



NSECT WONDERLAND 




"If a lot of my locust cousins 
were to come here to-night . . . 
they would eat and eat until not a 
blade of grass was left." 



see our nice green field 
on the other side of the 
hedge, they would stop 
and eat and eat until 
there was not a blade 
of grass left." 

" Eat up our field ! " 
cried the mouse. " Dis- 
graceful ! No wonder 
you call him a thief. I 
am glad he does not live 
here. What does he 
look like ? " 

" Something like me," 
said the grasshopper ; 
" in fact he is a very 
near relation of mine, 
only he is larger and 
wears a light brown coat, 
with a little touch of 
green on his wings; but 
his legs are much bigger 
and stronger than mine." 

"Tell Mrs. Mouse 
about his chirp," said 
the cricket. 

" When he is going to 
chirp, he stands quite 
still on his front legs — 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 151 

he has two pairs, you know," explained the grass- 
hopper ; " then, if he wants to sing loudly, he lifts 
up both his hind legs and draws them over his wings, 
but if he wants to sing very softly, he only draws up 
one of his hind legs over a wing." 

" That's all very wonderful, but I do not like him," 
said the mouse firmly; "it makes me shiver to think 
he could eat up our field. I do hope that is your only 
relation who is a thief? " 

" Yes, the only one," cried the grasshopper and 
cricket together. " Earwig is all right ; she is a very 
good mother and looks after her little ones until they 
are quite grown up." 

" I had no idea that she was a relation," said the 
mouse. 

" She is ' straight-winged ' too ; that is why we are 
connected, and so also is Cockroach." 

" I do not know much about Cockroach," said the 
mouse. 

" No," replied the cricket, " I do not expect you 
do. My cousin, House- Cricket, knows that part 
of the family best, because he chiefly lives in- 
doors." 

" Ah, but I have met your cousin, House-Cricket," 
said the mouse ; " I think he comes and lives out of 
doors sometimes." 

" Yes, yes ! " exclaimed the cricket, " you are quite 
right, he does ; when it is very hot weather he camps 
out in the garden for a change." 



152 



INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Of course I know 
you and Mole-Cricket 
best," said the mouse. 
" He lives just across 
the field in the wood." 

"He is a funny 
little fellow," said the 
grasshopper, " he has 
such queer front feet, 
they are like small 
hands." 

"What are they 
for ? " enquired the 
mouse. 

" To dig with," re- 
plied the cricket. "He 
digs as he goes along 
under the ground, 
and he eats the roots 
of vegetables and 
flowers — he is a mis- 
chievous little fellow." 

At this moment 
there was a " Hoot- 
hoot," followed by a 
screeching sound, 
which made Mrs. 
Mouse scamper under 
the hedge. 




'■' My coat being the colour of grass, 
enemies cannot see me. 1 ' 



GRASSHOPPER LANE 153 

11 That's White Owl ! " she said in a whisper. 
" Whatever you do, don't chirp. I must hide here 
until he has passed, and then hurry home." 

The grasshopper and cricket followed her into 
her hiding-place, and they talked together in whis- 
pers. 

" That is the benefit of my coat being the colour 
of grass," said the grasshopper ; " enemies cannot 
see me, and my great big cousin, who lives so 
much up in the trees, has a coat the colour of the 
leaves." 

"Yes, yes," murmured the mouse. She was not 
really attending to what the grasshopper was saying, 
as she felt too nervous, for White Owl was still 
wheeling about. At last he passed on. Then she 
said : 

" I think I will run home now." 

" We will take you, Ma'am, if you will allow us," 
said the grasshopper politely. 

" No, no, please not," said the mouse ; " I can 
scamper home very fast." And then with a twinkle 
in her little bright eyes, she added : " You, Cricket, 
might forget and give a loud chirp, and you, Sir," 
she said, turning to the grasshopper, " might also 
forget and jump over my head — so I prefer to go 
alone." 

Off she scampered, and when they saw that she 
was safely through the hedge and half-way across the 
field, the cricket started too, chirping happily as he 






154 INSECT WONDERLAND 

went, whilst the grasshopper spread a pair of hand- 
some wide wings, with brown and yellow stripes, and 
flew away home. 




The grasshopper . . . flew away home. 






BEEHIVE PALACE 



SUMMARY 

The honeysuckle and clover talk together, wondering 
what the bee can want with the honey he collects from 
their flowers. A bee, who overhears them whispering, 
enquires what they are talking about, so they tell him, 
and then he explains what he needs the honey for and 
how it is used. He also tells them about his home and 
his Queen. 



BEEHIVE PALACE 

THEY were all awake and happy — the birds, 
bees, and flowers — for who could be anything 
but happy on such a lovely sunny morning? The 
birds were piping their sweetest songs — the humming 
and droning of the bees was heard over garden and 
field ; even the wind came gently blowing across the 
downs with a message from the sea to the flowers, 
which were giving out their loveliest scents in return 
for the sunshine. 

" I do feel glad to be alive this lovely morning," 
said the white clover. 

" So do I," replied her friend the honeysuckle. 

" There is only one thing I wish for," continued the 
clover. 

" And what is that ? " enquired her friend. 

" That I grew as high up as you do, for then 
I could look over the hedge and see when the 

bees were coming and Oh, I could see lots of 

things ! " 

" Never mind, little friend," said the honeysuckle 
kindly, " you can see the sun from where you live just 
as well as I can at the top of this hedge — so what 

i57 



158 INSECT WONDERLAND 

does anything else matter ? and as for the bees — you 
can hear them coming ! " 

" That is true," answered the clover. " I love to 
hear the bees, for they always sing at their work — 
such a lovely song too. 5 ' 

" Such a lovely song," repeated the honeysuckle 
dreamily, " it is like a lullaby ; but we flowers under- 
stand what it is all about." 

" Yes, we know," replied the clover. " There is 
one thing, though, that I never can make out, and 
that is what the bees want with all the honey they 
gather from the flowers." 

" I do not quite know either," said the honeysuckle. 

" Perhaps they want it to eat," said the clover. " I 
must say I should like to know." 

At this moment a bee came over the hedge, and 
after wishing them good-morning, he said : 

" Pray what were you two talking about so earn- 
estly ? " 

" We were talking about you," said the honey- 
suckle. 

" Dear, dear ! " laughed the bee. " I hope you were 
saying something nice, for you know I like sweet 
things." 

" We were saying that we loved to hear you singing 
at your work," explained the honeysuckle. 

" Well, that was nice," said the bee. " Buzz a ! " 

he added — which in his language meant " Hurrah !" 
" And was that all ? " 



BEEHIVE PALACE 159 

There was a moment's silence. Then the white 
clover peeped up shyly and said : 

11 I was wondering what you could need with all 
the honey you take." 

" Ah," said the bee, " I believe there are those who 
think we only want it to eat ourselves." 

The clover hung her head, and in order to hide her 
confusion, the honeysuckle said quickly : 

" But surely you do want it to eat ? " 

" Yes," replied the bee, " of course we feed ourselves 
when we are out at work, and sometimes give to 
friends whom we meet on the way, but we really 
gather the honey to take home, and we store even 
more than we need ourselves." 

"Where is your home?" enquired the clover, who 
had now recovered her composure. 

" I live at Beehive Palace — just close here," was the 
reply. " Our home is an old-fashioned one, made of 
straw ; we like it better than the new kind made of 
wood, for it is much prettier, and nice and warm into 
the bargain. I expect you can see our house from 
your hedge," he added, turning to the honeysuckle as 
he spoke, " for it has a shed over it, and some mem- 
bers of your family lean over and give our house 
shade, as well as refreshment." 

" Oh, yes, we often nod to each other," said the 
honeysuckle. " I had no idea, though, that Beehive 
Palace was underneath there." 

" But," said the clover, " if you have got what you 



i6o 



INSECT WONDERLAND 




Our home is an old-fashioned 
one." 



want over your own 
porch, why do you 
have to come to this 
field?" 

" Because,dear little 
Miss Clover, we never 
mix the pollen." 

"Pollen !" they 
cried, " pollen, what 
is that ? We thought 
you came for honey!" 

" I come for both," 
said the bee good- 
temperedly. " The 
pollen is the sticky 
dust which covers my 
velvet coat when I 
creep into you flowers 
for the honey. This 
dust I brush off, make 
into a little lump, 
and pack into my 
baskets." 

" I do not see any 
baskets," said the 
honeysuckle, looking 
all around. 

" Ah, I carry my 
tools with me," 



BEEHIVE PALACE 161 

laughed the bee. "Just notice my hind legs" — he 
turned them towards the honeysuckle as he spoke — 
" there is a basket and brush made of hairs on each 
one. When I want to get the pollen off, I brush 
with one leg, so " — he suited the action to the word 
— "and in goes the dust into the basket on the other 
leg." 

" Yes, Clover," said the honeysuckle, " he really 
has baskets and brushes on his hind legs." 

" But," asked the clover thoughtfully, " what did 
you mean about never mixing the pollen ? " 

" I will try and tell you," he replied. " As we 
fly about we carry the pollen from one flower 
to another, and in this way help to make more 
flowers grow and fruit-trees bear more fruit. But 
if we carried the pollen, say from a violet to a 
primrose, it would be of no use in helping either 
to grow. So we only visit one kind of flower on 
the same journey. This morning I am on a Clover 
Journey." 

" Oh, I am glad ! " cried the clover, and as she 

spoke the bee flew down with a Buzz zum ! and 

whispered in her ear : 

" Hast thou a drop of honey sweet 
In thy cup — to spare for me ? 
And I, in return, a lullaby 
Will hum and croon to thee. 
For if we take we must surely give — 
Tis the fairest way, you see." 



1 62 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" The clover cried : ' Pray take thy fill 
From my honey-cup, dear bee, 
And then I'd love to hear thee croon 
A lullaby to me : 

But not in return for what you take, 
For we give our honey — free ! " 




' Hast thou a drop of honey sweet 
In thy cup— to spare for me?" 



And whilst the golden-brown bee took his fill, 
a great humble-bee came flying along. He was 
very big and handsome, with a black and yellow 
striped coat. His wings were broad and shone 
brightly in the sunshine, and he hummed to himself 
as he came towards the hedge. 

" Who may you be visiting on this journey ? " 
asked the honeysuckle with a little chuckle. 

" The sweet honey-pot that lives on this hedge," 



BEEHIVE PALACE 163 

replied the humble-bee with a buzz of amusement. 
" But how come you to know the rules as to our 
journeys ? " he asked in surprise. 

" Ha ! ha ! " laughed the honeysuckle, " the white 
clover and I know all about it, for we have had 
a visitor from Beehive Palace." 

"Indeed," said the humble-bee. "Oh, I see him, 
talking to Miss Clover." 

" Do you live at Beehive Palace, too ? " asked the 
clover. 

" Oh, no," said the humble-bee, " I live in the earth 
— I am not a Hive-bee." 

" Clover, dear ! " cried the honeysuckle in excite- 
ment, " here is an ' Earth-bee ' come to see me ! " 

" An ' Earth-bee,' " repeated the clover in surprise. 
" What is that ? " 

At the same moment their visitor from Beehive 
Palace looked up and exclaimed : 

" Oh, it is you. Good-morning ! " 

" They know each other," whispered the honey- 
suckle to the clover. 

" Yes, we know each other," laughed the humble- 
bee. " We both belong to the Hymenoptera family, 
you see " 

" And also to the Hook-wing Order — the chief of 
all the insects," put in the golden-brown bee with 
pride. 

The two listeners looked quite puzzled. 

Then the honeysuckle said hesitatingly : 



1 64 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" It is rather — confusing to have so many — 
titles " 

"Not to us, Miss Honeysuckle, not to us," replied 
the humble-bee. " Indeed, we have other names as 
well, to show to which particular branch we belong. I 
am a humble-bee, but you can call me 'Bumble,' if 
you like, and my little relative there " 

" Oh, just call me ' Bee,' " said their first friend. 

" Thank you," replied the clover, " that will be 
easier. I was really beginning to feel quite nervous, 
thinking we might have to call you by those big 
names." 

The bees cried, "Buzz — z — z — zum ! " for they 
were amused to think that the flowers found their 
names difficult. 

Then the honeysuckle turned to the humble-bee 
and said : 

" Bee was just telling us about the pollen and his 
baskets and brushes, but," she added, " we should so 
much like to know what he wants the pollen for." 

" It is the bee-bread on which we feed the young 
ones," was the reply. 

" And the honey — what about that ? " enquired the 
clover. 

" Some of it is for food, and the rest to fill the 
honeycombs with. We store up more than we need, 
you know, so as to have plenty for the winter, for we 
supply others as well as ourselves." 

" Other insects, do you mean ? " asked the flowers. 



BEEHIVE PALACE 165 

" No, no," replied the bee ; " I mean those whose 
gardens we live in, and who gave us Beehive Palace 
for our home." 

" I see," said the honeysuckle. " And does the 
honey you take go into your baskets too ? " 

" Not a bit of it," replied the bee. " We suck that 
in, and it goes down our throat into a little bag we 
have in our body." 

" But if you eat it, how can it be for food ? " 
persisted the clover. 

" We fly back home when we have a load," ex- 
plained the bee. " As we pass in some of the other 
workers take the bee-bread out of our baskets, and 
we go and pour the honey out of our throat into the 
cells " 

" Unless you want to make wax," called out the 
humble-bee, who had wandered a little further down 
the hedge. 

" Make wax ! " exclaimed the honeysuckle and the 
clover together. " How is that done ? " 

" Well, instead of pouring out the honey when we 
get home," said the bee, " we go to the top oT Bee- 
hive Palace and hang upside down by our front legs. 
Others hook themselves on to our back legs by their 
front ones, until there is a long chain of us. We all 
stay quite still for a long time, until the honey turns 
into beeswax and goes into eight little pockets under 
our bod)'." 

" And who eats that ? " enquired the flowers. 



1 66 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" No one eats it," laughed the bee gaily. " As soon 
as one of us finds that the wax is ready, we unfasten 
ourselves from the chain, pick the wax out of the 
pockets with our strong jaws, mix it up into a paste, 
fix it on to the top of the house, and fly off to get 
another load of honey." 

" But what about the wax which you have fixed 
to the top of the house?" asked the clover anxi- 
ously. 

" Ah, that is the business of other workers," he 
replied, "for we each have our own duties at Bee- 
hive Palace." 

"Well, and what are the duties of the wax-workers?" 
enquired the honeysuckle. 

" When there is enough to work with, they go and 
fetch some of the wax and spread a thick sheet of it, 
and upon this they build little cells all fitting close 
to one another." 

" And what are the cells for ? " asked the clover 
with interest. 

" Some are used for honey," said the bee, " in others 
the nurses put bee-bread for the babies. Then there 
are the cells in which the queen-bee puts the eggs. 
Some of these are for great lazy bees called ' drones,' 
smaller ones are for workers — like myself — and there 
are always five or six big cells for baby queens, who 
have the best food given to them." 

"They have nurses and queens, Clover dear!" 
exclaimed the honeysuckle in excited tones. 



BEEHIVE PALACE 167 

" A queen," corrected the bee. 

" But you said just now five or six queens," cried 
the honey flowers in puzzled tones. 

" No, I did not. I said five or six cells for queen- 
bees. The grubs are shut up tight in the cells, and 
after a time those shut up in the big cells — who are 
going to turn into queens — begin to sing. When 
the real queen-bee hears this song, she gets very, 
very angry, and runs fast to the cells to try and kill 
the new baby queens, but the workers stand in front 
and will not let her do so." 

" Then what does the queen-bee do ? " asked the 
flowers breathlessly. 

" She says, ' I will not stay here any more ! ' and 
off she flies out of the hive in a rage. Some of 
the old bees go with her and they make a new 
home." 

" Then you have no queen," said the clover in a 
disappointed voice. 

"You wait and hear," said the bee. "When the 
old queen has gone, the other bees keep looking at 
the cells in which the young queens are shut up, 
until at last one day out comes one. She has a very 
fine velvet dress with gold, which the bees brush 
and smooth ; they feed her with honey and take 
great care of her. But just as she has got nice and 
strong, out comes another queen ! " 

" Oh dear ! what happens then ? " enquired the 
honeysuckle. 



i68 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" They — I am sorry to have to say it," said the 
bee reluctantly, " they fight." 

" Fight ! What a dreadful thing ! " exclaimed the 
flowers. 

" Yes, fight until the strongest one kills the other. 
Then the conqueror rushes off to the other queen 
cells, tears off the wax lids, and stings the baby 
queens to death. After that she is Queen of the 
Hive." 

" That sounds very cruel," said the flowers. 

" It cannot be helped, for only one queen can reign 
at a time," explained the bee. 

" It is like a fairy tale," said the clover. " Are 
you quite sure it is all true, Bee ? " 

" Quite sure," he replied. 

" Then what does the queen do ? — does she work ? " 
asked the flowers. 

"Oh, no," replied their visitor. "Our queen never 
works ; we do not allow her to. We wait upon her, 
and she has only to lay the eggs in the wax cells 
which the work bees have made ready." 

"Then I suppose she just goes out and enjoys 
herself? " said the clover. 

<; No ; we only let her out once," was the reply, 
" for a fly in the sun and air — that is soon after she 
is made queen. She has such small wings that she 
cannot fly far." 

" Poor thing ! " said the flowers regretfully. 

" Yes," said the bee ; " I am sorry for her too that 



BEEHIVE PALACE 169 

she has always to stay at home instead of roaming 
over the hillside and clover fields or in a most lovely 
garden to which I go." 

" Do you mean the one with terraces ? " called out 
Bumble, who had just flown back nearer to the 
others. 

" Yes," was the answer. " It is the loveliest garden 
in this village — and there are some pretty ones here 
too — it is just made for us bees." 

" Indeed it is," answered Bumble. " Talk about 
fairyland ; there is a fairy garden for you if you like. 
The flowers have whispered it to me that the fairies 
sometimes dance there in the moonlight, and then 
the flowers join hands and dance too, but that is 
when the world is all asleep." 

" Oh, do please tell us more about it," cried the 
flowers. 

" It has narrow, grassy paths," said the bee, " like 
green velvet — you can see them from the terraces — 
and the flowers stand close together on each side of 
the paths. There are Madame Rose and her sisters 
— the Miss Sweet-peas — such a tall family they are, 
as high as this hedge, and they wear the loveliest 
dresses — their scent too — it makes me buzz when 
I think of it. Then there are the Mr. Larkspurs — 
the Mallow family in their bright crimson coats — the 
Canterbury Bells in purple, white, and pink — the Car- 
nations in such rich dresses ; whilst over the arches 
climb not only crimson roses but Clematis — with 



170 INSECT WONDERLAND 

great purple eyes watching us as we fly about — and 
the little apple-trees too, covered with such lovely 

rosy-faced apples Buz — z — z — zum ! I cannot 

tell you half that there is in that garden." 

" It must be lovely," said the honeysuckle. " I 
sometimes wonder," she continued pensively, "why 
some of us have such pretty dresses, and others such 
a delicious scent." 

" Do you not know," said the bee, " that you have 
both your colours and your sweet scents to show the 
insects where to find you ? " 

" Oh, is that it?" cried the clover in delight. " It 
is just as if we said ' Honey kept here ' when we want 
to tempt you to pay us a visit, then ? " 

" That is it," replied the bees, and they both 
hummed softly : 

" Hast thou a drop of honey sweet 
In thy cup — to spare for me?" 

Whereupon each flower waved her head and 

whispered : 

" Oh, prithee come and take thy fill 
From my honey- cup, dear Bee ! " 

And the bees were not long in availing themselves 
of this permission. Then when they had taken their 
fill the clover said : 

" Tell me, Bee, as you live in such a grand palace, 
with wax cells and a queen, are you not very superior 
to an earth-bee ? " 

" Not a bit of it," he replied. " They make wax 



BEEHIVE PALACE 



171 



cells and get honey and 
bee-bread for their 
babies — but the great 
difference between us 
is that they do not store 
honey for the winter as 
wedo. Bumble," he cal- 
led out, " Miss Clover 
wants to know who you 
are and where you live." 

"We are Wild-bees 
and live in the earth," 
said Bumble. " Our 
homes are rough and 
small — not grand like 
Beehive Palace " — he 
gave a little laugh and 
looked at Bee as he 
said this — " but we all 
live very happily to- 
gether and share the 
work. Sometimes there 
are two or three hun- 
dred of us in one home, 
but sometimes only 
quite a few." 

" And who builds 
your house ? " asked 
the flowers. 




" If she finds a nest left by a smal 
bird, she uses that," said Bumble. 



172 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" The mother of the family does that. She goes 
to sleep all the winter, then when she wakes up she 
looks for a nice place for a home. If she finds a nest 
left by a small bird, she uses that instead of building 
a new house." 

" And if she does not find an empty bird's nest, 
where does she build then ? " asked the clover. 

" Oh, in the fields," said Bumble, "or else among 
stones covered with moss. She makes a moss roof, 
lines this with wax to keep out the rain, and builds 
a long tunnel underground to the nest." 

" But what does she want a tunnel for ? " said the 
flowers. 

" Ah ! " laughed Bumble, " that is to keep her nest 
safe so that no one may find it. When she has built 
the home she collects food and puts it in the cells, 
then she lays the eggs, and in time these turn into 
grubs and then into Humble-bees, who grow up and 
help her in the work." 

" And do you make honey ? " asked the flowers. 

" Yes," said Bumble, " but not such a good kind as 
they do at Beehive Palace ; it is good enough, how- 
ever, for our enemies to come and steal." 

" Your enemies ! " exclaimed the clover in surprise. 
"Who are they?" 

" Mrs. Field-Mouse is one," said the humble-bee, 
"and Mr. Mole is another. They come and eat our 
combs, and sometimes kill us. You have trouble with 
the Mouse family, too, do you not, Bee ? " he asked. 



BEEHIVE PALACE 173 

" Yes," was the reply. " But they are not the only 
ones who cannot make honey, yet want to steal 
it. The Hornets, Wasps, Ants, and Moths are all 
just as bad, and often try to pass our barrier, but we 
always have a sentinel on guard outside, and if an 
enemy comes along he gives the warning, and other 
sentinels come and help him to defend our stores." 

" How do your sentinels get rid of the enemies ? " 
asked the flowers. 

" They first try to drive them away, but if they will 
not go, they draw their swords — their stings, you 
know — and kill them. When dead wasps are to be 
seen lying outside Beehive Palace, you may always 
be sure they were enemies and " 

" Robbers ! " put in Bumble, and he gave such a 
loud buzz that the honeysuckle feared he must be 
very angry, so she turned quickly to her first friend 
and said : 

" Bumble told us just now that he was a Wild-bee ; 
I am wondering if you are a Tame one." 

The bees buzzed so much with laughter that Miss 
Honeysuckle felt quite uncomfortable, and asked 
timidly : 

" Have I said anything funny ? " 

" Oh — very — very funny ! " buzzed the bees. 

The honeysuckle drew herself up and said with 
dignity : 

" I have always heard that it was thought exceed- 
ingly rude to laugh if anyone makes a mistake." 



174 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" So it is, Miss Honeysuckle, so it is, and we beg 
your pardon for being so rude," cried the bees ; " but it 
really was too funny ! " 

" Well," said the clover, " I do not see that there 
was anything so very funny in what Honeysuckle 
said, for I suppose there are only two kinds of 
bees, and if Bumble is a Wild one, it is not so sur- 
prising that she should think you were a Tame 
one." 

The bees began to buzz again, but stopped them- 
selves just in time, and Bumble said : 

" He is a Honey or Hive-bee. But it is quite 
a mistake to think, Miss Honeysuckle, that we are 
the only two kinds ; if we had but time we could tell 
you of a number of others, could we not, Bee ? " 

" Yes indeed," he replied. " Shall we tell you about 
a few of them ? " 

" Please do ! " cried the flowers. 

" Well," he began, " there are the Solitary-bees — 
there are ever so many kinds of them — little black 
insects who do not look much as if they were related 
to us. They burrow in the ground and live all by 
themselves — not like us ; we are Social-bees and 
prefer company. Now let me see, what other rela- 
tions shall I tell you about ? " 

" The Mason-bee," suggested Bumble. " Let me tell 
about her. She lives in a hole in the ground and 
makes a cell of mud." 

" That does not sound very nice," said the flowers. 



BEEHIVE PALACE 175 

" Ah ! but she makes it ever so pretty," was the 
answer. " She lines it with bits of green leaves or 
with rose leaves. Then she puts in some food and 
an egg. The Leaf-cutter bee, too, is very clever. 
Bee, whilst I take a sip of honey you might tell them 
how she gets leaves for her nest." 

" She holds on to a leaf," explained Bee, " and 
turns round and round, biting as she goes." 

" But what can she do with such a large piece 
of leaf ?" enquired the flowers in astonishment. 

" That is the clever part," was the reply. " When 
she has nearly bitten off the leaf, she spreads out her 
wings all ready to fly — this is to balance herself. 
Then she gives the last bite and flies off with the leaf 
between her jaws and feet. She packs this into her 
hole and goes off for another one." 

" That is clever," cried the flowers excitedly. 
" Tell us more ! " 

<J I am afraid I cannot stay," said Bee, " for I have 
been talking here a long time as it is, and I am 
really due at Beehive Palace with my first load." 

" I too have work to do at home," said Bumble, 
" and must also be off. If we were not so busy, there 
is lots more we could tell you about our family and 
relations." 

" Lots ! " repeated the bee ; " but as it is I must be 
going, for the rules are very strict at Beehive Palace 
and we are expected to keep them." 

" Well, the best of friends must part," said the 



176 



INSECT WONDERLAND 



honeysuckle, " and of course we must not keep you 
from your duties." 

"But," put in the clover, "do not forget — either of 
you — that we have 

"Always a drop of honey sweet 
In our cups — to offer thee, 
And nought we ask for in return, 
For we give our honey — free ! " 



Buzz ZA ! " hummed the bees — and they flew 



away ! 




MOTH LAND 



12 



SUMMARY 

The evening primrose tells Humming-bird Moth 
that she had always thought he was a butterfly until 
her friend, the heartsease, told her that she had learnt 
from Orange-tip that he was not. She begged him to 
tell her about himself, and added that she understood 
he had some relations called " Silkworms " about whom 
she and the other flowers were anxious to hear. 



MOTH LAND 

" "\7'OU promised us, Prim dear, to ask him," said 
-1- the heartsease, " and we are so anxious to 
hear what he has to say — are we not, friends ? " she 
asked, turning to the other flowers. 

" Yes, yes ! " they cried. 

" But," replied the evening primrose, " you said 
yourself that I did not wake up until after Humming- 
bird Moth had passed this way, so how can I ask 
him ?" 

"Well," replied her friend, "do try and be awake 
next time he comes, for it is only fair that you should 
find out what we want to know, when you think of 
all we have told you about Orange-tip and her play- 
mates." 

" Yes indeed, it was lovely," she replied ; " I did 
like hearing about it and of how Humming-bird 
Moth and his relations all belong to the same family 
as Orange-tip, and have that long name — now what 
was it, Pansy ? I have forgotten it again." 

" I know," said the heartsease proudly — " it is 
' Lepidoptera ' and means ' scale-winged. 5 " 

" That was it," answered the evening primrose. 
179 



1 8o INSECT WONDERLAND 

" They told us too," continued the heartsease, 
" that they were all caterpillars and chrysalises before 
they were butterflies." 

"And I think we heard that Humming-bird Moth 
and his family are caterpillars and chrysalises too, 
before they grow up," put in the mignonette shyly. 

" Quite right, Miss Mignonette," answered the 
geranium, " although I had forgotten it myself until 
you mentioned it. But that reminds me — did not 
Orange-tip, or one of them, say something about 
Humming-bird Moth's caterpillars and the gar- 
den?" 

" Yes, Mr. Geranium," chimed in the sweet-pea, 

" she said " And then she paused a moment. " I 

do not like to seem unkind, but I think she said that 
they did more harm in the garden than their cater- 
pillars." 

" Ah ! " rejoined the geranium, " perhaps Miss Prim 
will find out about that for us from Humming-bird 
Moth." 

" Indeed I will," was the reply, " the very first time 
that I can persuade him to wait a moment ; but you 
know it is difficult to get him to stop, for he sucks 
the honey from the flowers as he flies." 

" Yes," said the sweet-pea, " we have often seen him 
hovering over the flower-beds on a summer morning, 
but as you are one of the flowers from whom he takes 
the honey you must start the conversation with him, 
then we will join in after and " 



MOTH LAND 1S1 

" Hush, hush ! " said the other flowers ; " we hear 
him ! " 

They all listened breathlessly for a few moments. 

Then Miss Mignonette whispered regretfully : 

" I think I saw him fly over the other side." 

" Well, you had better try and get him to talk to 
you before it is quite dark." 

The flowers all looked round in surprise and found 
it was the ivy-bloom who had spoken. 

" But," said the heartsease timidly, " can he not 
talk when it gets darker ? " 

" Oh, yes," was the reply, " but he will be coming 
later on, with the others, to my feast." 

" Your feast ! " rejoined the flowers in surprise. 

" Yes, for this is a warm, still night, and if you 
look my way presently you will see my blossoms 
covered with the visitors who have come to my 
feast." 

" And may I ask what you give them, Madam ? " 
asked the geranium politely. 

" The honey from my blossoms," replied the ivy- 
bloom. " They call it ' Nectar,' sir, and I am sorry 
to say that sometimes my visitors drink too deeply 
of the nectar, and then a dreadful thing happens." 

" What is it ? " asked the flowers in awed voices. 

" They fall down on the ground, where Mr. Toad 
and his family are sitting waiting for — for — I really 
hardly like to tell you," said the ivy-bloom, "for 
their supper ! " 



1 82 



INSECT WONDERLAND 




" Mr. Toad and his family are 
sitting waiting for— for — " 



The flowers trem- 
bled. 

" What a pity," mur- 
mured the daisy shyly, 
" that they are not con- 
tent with dew as we 
are." 

"Or better still, Miss 
Daisy, if you will ex- 
cuse my saying so," put 
in Mr. Blade-o'-Grass, 
"that they do not know 
when they have had 
enough nectar." 

Miss Daisy blushed, 
and whilst Mr. Blade- 
o'-Grass was assuring 
her that he did not 
mean to make her do 
so, the geranium asked : 

"And pray, Madam, 
who else comes to your 
feast ? " 

" Oh, the Hawk- 
Moths and the Tiger- 
Moths and the Clear- 
wings and the Burnets 
— in fact, all of them, 
and they do enjoy 



MOTH LAND 



183 



themselves, I can assure you." Then she added : 
"And their eyes shine so, like — well, like glow- 
worms — some of them red, others purple, blue, and 
orange; but Humming-bird Moth will tell you about 
this." 

" Oh, if only he would make haste and come!" 
cried the flowers. 




Nearer came the sound. 



" Listen ! " said the ivy-bloom. " I believe I hear 
him ! " 

The flowers bent their heads and listened. Then 
the heartsease said softly : 

" I hear his hum ! " and Miss Sweet-pea whispered : 
" And / can see him coming this way." 
Nearer came the sound, and a moment later Hum- 
ming-bird Moth was sucking honey from the heart 



184 INSECT WONDERLAND 

of the evening primrose. When he had taken his fill 
and was just about to dart off again she said timidly: 

" Can I speak to you, please ? " 

" Of course you can, Miss Prim," he replied. "But 
I cannot stay very long as I am going to a banquet 
presently when it is quite dark." 

Maybe it was only the wind shaking the leaves and 
blossoms of the ivy, but the flowers could not help 
thinking that they heard a quiet laugh, and they 
thought they guessed the reason why. 

" But it is not dark yet," replied Miss Trim. 

" Oh, no," said Humming-bird Moth, " I am in no 
hurry for a little while ; it is only that I must not be 
late for the banquet or I might not get a place." 

Was it the wind again or a little laugh? The flowers 
could not tell. Whatever it was, the brown moth did 
not seem to notice, but continued : 

" Now what shall we talk about ? " 

" About yourself," said Miss Prim. 

" Dear, dear ! " he answered, " that makes me feel 
quite shy." Then he added : " What can you want 
to know about me, though ? " 

" We " began the primrose. 

" We ! " exclaimed the moth; "but I thought it was 
you who wanted to speak with me." 

Miss Prim looked quite pale in the dusk, as she 
answered : 

" Please, please do not mind, but the — -the other 
flowers want to talk to you too." 



MOTH LAND 185 

Humming-bird Moth looked round pleasantly and 
said : 

" Oh, is that it ? Well, the more the merrier." 

At this the flowers rustled with pleasure and the 
geranium said politely : 

" Thank you, sir. You see we have been very 
anxious to talk with you, as we always thought you 
were a butterfly until Orange-tip told us that you 
were a moth." 

" No, no," replied their visitor ; " I am not a butter- 
fly. Orange-tip and her companions are Sun chil- 
dren, but we of Moth Land dance chiefly in the 
moonlight, although some — like myself — fly by 
day as well. Then, too, we fold our wings differ- 
ently." 

"Yes, yes," cried the heartsease; "Orange-tip told us 
about that, and also that your feelers were different 
from theirs, but she did not know any more." 

" Except," chimed in the mignonette, " that you 
were caterpillars and chrysalises too before you were 
moths." 

"Now I wonder," said the moth, "if she told you 
that the caterpillars of some members of our family 
do a great deal of mischief?" 

There was silence for a moment, then the sweet- 
pea said timidly : 

" She did say something about it, Mr. " 

" Oh, call me ' Hummy,' " he said, " for I have too 
long a name for everyday use." 
12* 



1 86 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" Yes, we know ! " cried the flowers ; " it is ' Lepi- 
doptera.' " 

"Ah! that is the name of our Order; but as well as 
that I have a long name to show to which branch of 
the family I belong. I am called ' Humming-bird 
Moth.' Now, shall I tell you what it all means ? " 
he asked. 

" Yes, please tell us ! " exclaimed the flowers 
excitedly. 

" Well, I am called ' Humming-bird ' because when 
I fly fast my wings make the same sound as the little 
bird with that name." 

" When we heard your sweet humming, 
We knew you were coming ! '' 

said the heartsease softly to herself. 

Well done, Miss Pansy. I like that— and shall 
be more glad than ever that I can hum. But that is 
not all my name. I am called ' Hawk-Moth.' The 
members of our branch of the family have pointed 
front wings and short back ones ; big furry bodies 
and fur even on their wings and legs. They can fly 
very fast, and some of them are most beautiful." 

"And are they all as big as you, Hummy?" en- 
quired Miss Prim. 

" Oh, I am the smallest of the ' Hawk ' branch," he 
replied, " although I am noticed more often than the 
others, as I fly by day as well as by night. The 
largest of us all is my cousin Death's-head Hawk- 






MOTH LAND 187 

Moth, but he only flies at night. His front wings 
are brown, and his back ones yellow with black 
bands on them, but his drinking-tube is very short. 
He is not only the largest of all the moths, but 
one of the biggest insects which live in this 
country." 

" And can he hum ? " asked the flowers. 

" No, but he can squeak," was the reply ; " and if 
his feet are touched it makes him very angry, and 
then he squeaks." 

" How does he do it ? " asked the geranium. 

" Ah ! that is his secret," laughed Hummy ; " and he 
never tells, so no one knows." 

"And was he ever a caterpillar? "enquired the 
sweet-pea. 

" Yes," was the answer, " such a great big one who 
lived in the potato field and fed on the leaves. He 
has big eyes too — that cousin ; they shine like red 
lamps when it is dark. I expect I shall meet him at 
the banquet to-night." 

The ivy-bloom leant down and whispered to Miss 
Sweet-pea : 

" I told you so ! " 

The other flowers heard too and laughed softly to 
themselves ; but fearing that Hummy might hear 
and think that they were laughing at him — which 
would certainly have been rude and hurt his feelings 
— the evening primrose said softly : 

" Tell us about all your other relations." 



188 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" My dear Miss Prim, I have so many that I could 
never, never tell you about them all." 

" Have you more than Orange-tip and her play- 
mates, then ? " enquired the heartsease in surprise. 

" Why, yes ; we have hundreds and hundreds and 
hundreds of different relations in this country alone." 
Then he added a little scornfully : " I do not believe 
they have even one hundred ! " 

" Well, tell us about as many as you can," urged 
the sweet-pea, " for we are enjoying ourselves, and it 
is not quite dark yet." 

" No, it is not dark, but I am rather thirsty," said 
Hummy. 

" Take another sip of honey, then — Prim will not 
mind ! " cried all the flowers together, for they feared 
if once their visitor went off to the ivy-bloom they 
would never get him back again. 

" Pray do," said Miss Prim. 

So he took a long draught, giving a little hum of 
pleasure as he rolled up his trunk which a moment 
before had been thrust deep down into Miss Prim's 
honey-cup. 

" Is it not rather a trouble to fold up your trunk 
every time?" asked the geranium. 

"None," replied Hummy; "it just rolls up under 
my lip quite easily." 

" Do you have your trunks when you are cater- 
pillars ? " asked the geranium. 

" No," he replied ; "then we have strong jaws that 



MOTH LAND 189 

we can gnaw off leaves with ; we tuck the leaf into 
our inner jaws, where we chew it up and swallow it ; 
but when we grow into moths, our strong jaws 
almost disappear, and we have feathery lips instead, 
whilst our inner jaws grow very long and roll together 
like a trunk." 

" Why do you need such strong jaws when you are 
caterpillars ? " suddenly asked Mr. Blade-o'-Grass. 

11 Because we are so hungry," laughed Hummy. 
" It is on account of our big appetites that we do the 
mischief Orange-tip told you about. There is, for 
instance, a relative of mine who puts her eggs on the 
top leaves of the green spurge in the hedges. When 
the caterpillars come out they eat until they strip all 
the leaves off. Privet Hawk-Moth is another whose 
caterpillars do a lot of mischief to the hedges and the 
lilac-bushes ; but she wears a beautiful dress. Do 
you know her ? " 

" Does she wear pale pink and black ? " asked the 
sweet-pea. 

" Yes," said Hummy ; " at least her body is pale 
pink and black, but her wings are pink and brown." 

" And when she was a caterpillar and had grown 
big enough, did she stop eating like Orange-tip and 
Red Admiral and the other butterflies, and wriggle 
out of her skin ? " enquired the heartsease breath- 
lessly. 

" Yes, Miss Pansy ; I see you know all about it," 
replied Hummy. 



190 



riNSECT WONDERLAND 




" He was always a fine fellow even 
when a caterpillar, for then he wore 
a nice fur coat." 



" Red Admiral told 
us too," continued the 
heartsease, "about the 
chrysalises being fas- 
tened by a silk thread 
underneath the leaves 
of stinging nettles or 
of a stem, and " 

" Ah ! but that is 
the difference," inter- 
rupted Hummy; "our 
chrysalises are either 
wrapped in a little 
silk bag or — as we 
Hawk-Moths do— the 
caterpillar creeps into 
the ground and lies 
shut up in a hole lined 
with silk." 

" But how do you 
get out ? " cried the 
flowers. 

" When we are 
ready we wriggle up 
to the top, break 
through our case, and 
come out in our moth 
dresses. We do not 
gleam as much as 



MOTH LAND 191 

Orange-tip and her playmates, but some of us wear 
very fine suits. There is my cousin Tiger — he is 
very handsome. His front wings are brown with 
cream-coloured stripes, and the back ones are pink- 
ish with dark blue spots. We are very proud of 
him. He was always a fine fellow even when a 
caterpillar, for then he wore a nice fur coat." 

"A fur coat ! " they all exclaimed. 

" But what did he do with it when he changed ? " 
asked Miss Prim. 

" Perhaps you think he threw it away. Nothing of 
the sort. When he was ready to change he bit off 
the long brown hairs and wove them into the little 
case in which he was going to sleep whilst growing 
into a moth." 

"Used his fur coat — well, that is wonderful!" 
agreed the flowers. 

" I think I know Mr. Tiger-Moth," said the hearts- 
ease. " Does he run about among the flower-beds in 
the evening ? " 

" Yes, Miss Pansy," replied Hummy. " He runs 
about the beds because he does not fly very high for 
one thing, and as well as that he feeds on the lower 
plants." 

" I suppose you know a good many of your rela- 
tions, although you are such a large family," said the 
geranium thoughtfully, for he had been thinking of 
what Hummy had told them. 

" Yes," was the reply; " I know numbers of them 



192 INSECT WONDERLAND 

— the Bee-Hawks, the Burnets, the Emperors, the 
Lackeys, the Clear-wings, the Magpies, the Swallow- 
tails, the Vapourers — oh dear ! it makes me quite out 
of breath!" he cried. "Miss Prim, dear, another 
sip, please." 

Before, however, the evening primrose had time to 
give permission he had unrolled his trunk and thrust 
it deep down into her heart, the flowers meanwhile 
whispering together in excitement. When he was 
sufficiently refreshed, he said : 

" Time is getting on and I shall soon have to be 
going ; but I might tell you about one more of our 
family. Now which shall it be ? " 

Then a great discussion arose amongst the flowers, 
but they could not agree which to choose. At length 
Mr. Geranium said : 

" I propose that Miss Prim be asked to decide ; 
for, friends," he said, turning his cheerful face to the 
other flowers, " we must not forget it is only because 
she supplies such beautiful honey that we have been 
able to induce our charming visitor to stay and talk 
so long with us to-night." 

" Yes, yes ! " cried the flowers, " we agree ! we 
agree ! Let Miss Prim choose ! " and they waved 
and fluttered in excitement. 

The moth rose for a moment into the air with a 
soft hum, and as he did so the evening primrose 
bowed her stately head and said : 

" Thank you, dear companions, for wishing me to 



MOTH LAND 193 

choose. I think it would be nice to hear about the 
' Lackeys.' " 

" Well done, Miss Prim ! " cried Hummy, as he 
alighted gently back again on to the edge of the 
cup. " The Lackeys are near neighbours, for some 
of them live just across the garden in the orchard. 
In the autumn, when most of you have gone out of 
this garden, they put their eggs in rings around the 
branch of the old apple-tree yonder." 

"And when do their caterpillars come out?" asked 
the flowers eagerly. 

"In the summer,". replied Hummy; "and directly 
they come out they spin themselves a great silk web, 
hanging it from one of the fruit-trees, in which they 
all live together until they grow up." 

" What do they do then ? " enquired the geranium. 

" They bite holes in the web and each one starts off 
by himself. Then they spin a nice little case in 
which they sleep until it is time for them to come 
out in their moth dress of yellow and brown." 

" Please, where do they keep their silk ? " sud- 
denly asked Mr. Blade-o'-Grass. 

" In their heads," was the reply. 

"In their heads!" repeated Mr. Blade-o'-Grass in 
astonishment. 

" Well, under their jaws is a little tube," explained 
Hummy, " and through this little tube comes the 
silk. By the by," he added, " talking of silk re- 
minds me of something." 



194 INSECT WONDERLAND 

" What is that ? " asked the flowers. 

" About a very useful moth — a much better silk- 
spinner than any of us — but she does not live in this 
country, so I cannot tell you much about her." 

" Is she a caterpillar too?" asked the heartsease. 

" Yes, but she is called a ' silkworm,' for she makes 
most beautiful yellow silk— lots and lots of it." 

"But what does she use so much for?" enquired 
the sweet-pea in a puzzled voice. 

" She makes her own little case," replied Hummy, 
" spinning hundreds and hundreds of yards to wrap 
herself round in, and then this ball of silk is woven 
into beautiful things to wear, although I cannot tell 
you how this is done. For you know," he continued, 
"there are those who do not grow their suits as we 
all do." 

" And what is the moth like ? " asked the gera- 
nium. 

" Plain, very plain," replied Hummy, " with a 
short trunk, for Mrs. Bombyx — that is her name — 
never eats, she only wants to lay a great many eggs 
and " 

" Where does she put them ? " interrupted the 
sweet-pea. 

" On mulberry-trees," said Hummy, " and the 
caterpillar " 

"'Silkworm,' I thought it was called," put in the 
geranium. 

" Yes, ' silkworm ' if you like — but it is a cater- 



MOTH LAND . 195 

pillar," replied Hummy. "Well, I was going to say 
the silkworm is a very plain little insect too, and 
eats a great deal." 

" And is Bombyx the only one who makes this 
beautiful yellow silk ? " asked Miss Prim. 

" Oh, no, there are some great big fellows who live 
in a country over the sea — they are called Atlas- 
Moths — I know their caterpillars spin the most 
beautiful silk. I believe there are others too, but I 
cannot stay to tell you any more ; I really must go, 
for I see the places are filling up." 

" How can you see behind when you are looking 
at us?" asked the geranium in surprise. 

Hummy thought a moment, then he said : 

" I will ask you a riddle — listen carefully : ' Why 
are my eyes like my family ? ' " 

The flowers made all kinds of guesses, but none of 
them were right. 

" Give it up ? " asked Hummy. 

" Yes," cried the flowers. " Please tell us." 

" Because there are hundreds and hundreds of 
them ! What do you think of that ? " 

The flowers rustled with laughter. 

" And what is more," continued Hummy, " we can 
see all ways at the same time — that is how I know 
the places are getting filled up for the banquet." 

" We must not keep you, then," said Miss Prim 
gently. 

Then Hummy rose just above her head, bowing to 



196 



INSECT WONDERLAND 



her as he did so, and with a good-night hum to the 
other flowers he prepared to flit away. 

" Good-night ! " cried they all. " We hope you will 
enjoy your feast ! " And as the moth rose higher in 
the air, they added : " But do not forget, dear Hummy, 
when you sip the nectar, that — even in Moth Land — 
' Enough is as good as a feast ! ' " 




Mulberry Silkworms and Cocoon. 



WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD. 
PRINTERS. PLYMOUTH 



SFP 1*3 1910 




UBBARV OF CONGRESS 




005 455 346 8 



